Wellbeing Literacy Leader - Emily Murcott

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe summer break. Enjoy every moment you have with your children. Don't forget to enjoy the board games, the sunshine, going on walks, swimming and splashing in the water, telling jokes and laughing amongst family and friends, and most of all just enjoy being together.

I know I talk a lot about gratitude and kindness, but I am a firm believer that they are incredibly important in our daily lives. To show gratitude and kindness builds positive emotions for everyone involved. It also builds relationships and makes people feel part of something. It makes the giver feel like they have accomplished something and the receiver feel cared for. I encourage everyone to do more acts of kindness and show gratitude.

Below are plenty of acts of kindness that can be carried out as a family, enabling children to participate directly in the random act experience. While other suggestions are for parents to role-model kind / giving behaviours to their children. These can provide an opportunity to start conversations with your children about different ways we can give to others and be more community-minded. As an added bonus, many ideas are completely free or at minimal cost, so you don’t need to worry about breaking the budget!

My daughter and I play a game whilst out shopping. We have to see how many people we can get to smile. We just smile widely and then when we receive a smile back we tally it up. To be honest, we are competitive, so we often call out the number to each other when we get a smile. This in effect encourages the other person to try harder. We giggle our way around the shops.

Random Acts of Kindness Suggestions To Get You Started:

Let someone go ahead of you in a line.
Pay for someone else’s coffee.
Donate food to your local (coffee, tea, long-life milk, cereal, tinned fruit, pasta, baby food pouches, biscuits, jars of meal bases are all useful items).
Help a neighbour with a chore or an errand.
Smile at everyone you see
Pick up 5 items of rubbish at your local park/beach/bushwalk
Fulfill a giving/wishing tree request at your local shopping centre
Hold the door open for people
Write a letter (or draw a picture) for your sibling telling them why you love them
Send notes to the houses with great Christmas lights thanking them for lighting up their house
Look in the mirror and give yourself a compliment
Leave a gold coin in a shopping trolley for the next shopper to find
Donate the “free” coffee on your cafe loyalty card to the person behind you in line
Make a new friend at school by inviting someone you don’t normally play with to join your game
Offer to wash your neighbour’s car

I'd also like to share with you a Kindness Calendar for 2022. This is produced by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. This is a great resource for families to use throughout the year to encourage kindness acts.

Christmas Humour

Riddle

Question: Santa was having problems with his legs and was unable to walk so he went to the hospital to ask the doctor if he could recommend something for him. What did the doctor give to Santa to help him to walk?

Joke

Why did the turkey cross the road? Are you kidding? It's Christmas - he should run a mile.

What do you call people who are frightened of Santa?Claustraphopic.

Tongue Twister

Hollie hangs holly here hoping happy holidays hurry. Tree trimmers try to trim trees while Tracy tastes treats. Wrapping warped wreaths risks ruining weather wilted wood.Santa seems seriously sick since Sally served sour salmon soup.

Riddle answer

A candy cane

Enjoy the time with your family, build positive relationships with them and remember to be kind and gracious! Spread the festive spirit.

Nicole Donnelly expressed her gratitude towards a kind family in Prep who replaced a borrowed book which had been damaged . Now anyone in the school can find out what happens when 'Mr Chicken Goes To Paris'. Thankyou kind family.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

DECEMBER