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Kindness Ripple Map

Child maps how one kind act could ripple to others and plans a small act to start their own ripple.

Cartoon illustration of a parent and child at home doing Kindness Ripple Map.
  • Age7 to 12 years
  • Time15 to 30 minutes
  • EnergyCalm
  • CostFree
  • WhereIndoors
  • PrepNone

Your child draws a map of how one kind act could spread from person to person, then chooses a small kind act to start their own ripple.

How to do it

  1. Sit together and talk about a time someone was kind to your child and how it made them feel.
  2. Draw a small circle in the middle of a page for one kind act, then draw arrows out to who it might reach next.
  3. Keep going a ripple or two further, imagining how each person might pass kindness on.
  4. Have your child pick one small, doable kind act they would like to start with.
  5. Later, come back to the map and let them add what actually happened when they did it.

What you need

  • Large paper
  • Pencils

Signs it is working

Your child can name a real kind act and imagine who it might reach next. They add more than one ripple to the map. They choose a small act they actually want to try, and are keen to come back and add the result

If it is not quite clicking

Child cannot think of a kind act: Start from one they have received and reverse it. The map turns into a big tangle: Keep it to three or four people so the idea stays clear. The planned act does not happen or falls flat: Keep it light and let them pick another; the map is about noticing kindness, not a task to be graded

Make it yours

Younger, 6 to 8 years: One act and one ripple of who it reaches is plenty. Older, 10 to 12 years: Map several branches and talk about how small acts add up across a community. Siblings: Build one shared map together and each pick their own kind act to start

Try this with your child.

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