Summer of Kindness: Random Acts of Kindness Ideas

A Summer of Kindness is what the world needs right now. While I put together a list of Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) suggestions similar to this back in 2013, it is time for a fresh take. Though it goes without saying, our world is going through an unprecedented time. The best way to bring a little joy into your corner of existence is to create as many smiles as possible. Kindness is contagious.

Kindness does matter more than ever.

The idea of a Summer of Kindness where we fill our days with fun and random acts of kindness is exciting. Make it your secret mission to sprinkle good deeds and spread happiness as often as you can. If you have a suggestion to add, please leave it in the comments below. If you have children, make sure they play along with you!

• Create encouraging positive post-it notes and leave them on the mirrors in public bathrooms.
• Leave a scratch-off lotto ticket with your tip the next time you eat out at a restaurant.
• Take a favorite book you’ve read, put a post-it note on the cover saying “You should read this!” and leave it on a park or bus bench. The right person will find it and you’ll have shared the joy of reading.
• Take your old magazines to a nursing home instead of the recycling bin.
• Join Reddit’s Randoms Gifts of Amazon and enjoy the gift of giving year-round.
• Help fight social isolation in seniors by sending a card or letter with Love For Our Elders.
• At the drive-thru window, instead of buying that drink or meal for the person behind you, tip the person handing you the drinks/food. They are in need more than the person who is financially able to buy that latte.
• Let someone ahead of you in the grocery line, car line, or any line, actually.
• Cut the lawn for an elderly neighbor or pressure wash their driveway.
• Send a random military person a gift through the USO or Any Soldier.

Be the Sunshine for those around you.

• Go through your closet and bring the best pieces of what you don’t want directly to a women’s shelter or Single Mom’s Boutique like the one at Sheridan House.
• Anonymously through the mail, send a $25 gift certificate to the grocery store or gas station to a friend you know is having a rough time financially.
• Go to your local animal shelter and consider adopting a new family member that may find it difficult to find a forever home such as a guinea pig, rabbit, or an elderly dog.
• On the highway, pay the toll for the person behind you.
• The next time you are at a video game arcade, give your winning tickets to a random child.
• Make it a daily goal to hug three different people.
• Give away items directly through Buy Nothing groups on Facebook or a non-profit thrift shop instead of a national chain store.
• Gift the gift of Honeybees through Heifer International and help a family, their community, and the world’s bee population.
• Become the neighborhood cat person and take the stray ones to be neutered.
• Bake up some goodies to drop off at a friend’s house that you know is dealing with depression.

The Random Act of Kindness you give may be the only kindness they have received in a long time.

• Become more aware of your surroundings so that you can offer help when needed, like when someone in a wheelchair at the grocery store needs something off the top shelf.
• Do you have expertise in something specific? Offer to mentor someone in that field.
• Offer to babysit at no charge for that single mom neighbor that you’ve noticed is beyond exhausted.
• Choose 2 friends and send them a cute meme or an uplifting more personalized text.
• When you are out running errands, find at least 5 people you can sincerely compliment.
• Choose to smile at everyone even when you do not feel like it and even when you are wearing a mask. They will see it in your eyes. Smiling is contagious no matter your face covering.
• Pick up some coloring or activity books from a Dollar Tree to bring over to a local Boys & Girls Club.
• Donate blood or plasma.
• Bring your old sheets and towels to your local Humane Society.
• Share this blog post and Daydream Lane with all of your friends.

These 30 suggestions for random acts of kindness may not all be possible for you financially and that is okay. (It definitely is not possible for me to do all of them.) If you can make kindness a focal point in your daily life though, that is more than enough. You never know how your small act of kindness may change a person’s life forever.