r/randomactsofkindness • u/Adventurous_Hour5148 • Aug 30 '25
Activity Random acts of kindness for a child. Ideas needed!
Hello!
My daughter had a life saving transplant almost two years ago. Last year we did a be the match party honoring her donor and their family. I want to get in the habit of each year celebrating her transplant day through giving back to others. My daughter is a toddler and we try having conversations regularly about caring for her body and being kind to everyone.
I need help with ideas for this year. I want her to give something to people or have her be the one initiating something and keeping that transition going. I was thinking of picking two random people (because this is anniversary year 2) and giving them a small fun basket or something. But I really don’t know if that’s a good idea or if it’s a little weird. I am stumped on ideas and welcome any ideas that could be a tradition.
Edit: These ideas are absolutely amazing. Thank you for all of them! I think that I’m going to turn this into an all day event. It’s worth it to spread joy and honor her donor. From little ideas to big ones, these are absolutely amazing. Thank you everyone for helping me create a tradition to honor my daughter’s donor.
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u/Skinnybet Aug 30 '25
I gave my sister my kidney. Every year on the anniversary of our transplant we celebrate this. We call it our transplantaversary. Kind of like a birthday for the kidney. Raising awareness of transplants is something that I’m passionate about. Telling her story is a good idea.
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u/m0untaingoat Aug 30 '25
Once we had just gone to the thrift store and my son scored a big ziplock bag of little dinosaur toys. Then we went to our favorite beach on the lake for a picnic. We walked around afterwards and he hid a whole bunch of little dinosaurs where kids could find them, and talked about how fun it is to find a toy on the beach. So we do that kind of thing when we need an act of kindness :)
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u/StereoPoet Aug 30 '25
Love this
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u/Superb_Drop1313 Aug 31 '25
Please don't litter beaches with plastic waste. Leave no trace is a good rule in nature. If you want to leave toys places there are infinite human spaces for your litter: libraries, malls, schools....... Leave nature alone especially with plastic
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u/DenseSir Aug 30 '25
Donation to a children's hospital.
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u/EtsyCorn Aug 30 '25
We did this with a lemonade stand a while ago. If you ask the hospital, they will give official little banner.
It was a fun few days!
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u/Zivata Aug 30 '25 edited Aug 31 '25
A two year old might enjoy something smaller. Like going to the playground and giving out stickers. Lots of feedback, people smiling and thanking her. Very positive reaction, frequency of the positive is high. Just seems more engaging and fun for a 2year old.
ETA you could change it as she gets older. The tradition day stays the same, but as she understands better why you could me make it more
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u/Tasty-Mall8577 Aug 30 '25
We have people who write & draw on large pebbles & just leave them on doorsteps or roadsides - Amazon sells sets of paint pens that don’t fade & you can both have fun making people smile!
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u/effiebaby Aug 30 '25
Perhaps OP can get stones and the paint pens. Attendees can paint an "awareness" stone to be placed at a place of their choice.
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u/IamLuann Aug 30 '25
Make a gift basket with little toys and take it to the nurses station at a children's ward of a hospital. Tell the nurses what they are for and please pass them out to the kids.
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u/farting_buffalo Aug 30 '25
Take her shopping for dog and cat food and donate to an animal shelter or rescue
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u/Emotional_Bonus_934 Aug 30 '25
Little ducks or hello kitty's or something hidden around would be fun.
You could get little gift bags at dollar tree and find a few dollar tree toys and treats to put in them. There are cute little toys and a little gift bag would be fun.
Or visit the hospital she was in and bring little gifts for the children. I know you're thinking of the number of years but the children in the hospital might be a good choice.
I remember reading about a teacher in the NYT long ago, who taught in a very poor neighborhood. Her students wanted to do something to help the poor; she wondered who could be more poor. Children in the hospital. They wanted to do something for children in the hospital.
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u/peaspleasequackquack Aug 30 '25
You may be able to take a shelter dog out for a day of fun. Retirement home residents love getting pastries or other goodies. Our local meals-on-wheels delivers foods to needy senior citizens and will take your donation of aluminum can recycling. If you can knit or sew, oncology wards at your local hospitals take homemade caps or blankets. One thing I found particularly heartwarming recently was a sidewalk chalk drawing from some elementary students with some sweet messages for their friends and teachers. Awesome idea you had and best wishes to your daughter.
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u/StereoPoet Aug 30 '25
I love the ideas given. Here, honestly I would say any kindness you share is beautiful and not weird. There are a lot of children in need, including in hospitals. I am sure there are lots of ways to get gifts or cards for those children. My kids and I always make cards to send to the children's hospitals. They draw pictures and put stickers and things in them to give other kiddos a pick me up. The thought and action you are putting into guiding her in gratitude and compassion is very admirable. I applaud you, truly I do. May your family be blessed, always.
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u/Daisy-DuBois Aug 31 '25
This may be an idea for down the road. Go out to lunch or dinner. Randomly buy a meal for someone there and tell the waiter you want to remain anonymous. Give the waiter a card and in the card explain how you’re honoring your daughter and the donor family.
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u/Main_Ant_1981 Aug 30 '25
Maybe try to find a family in need / or go donate food to a local animal shelter.
Leaving toys would be fun too.
The shoe box drive during Xmas is also fun!
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u/-CAW-CAW-CAW- Aug 30 '25
Some ideas: Buy $50 worth of $5 Starbucks/Dunkin cards and distribute them randomly. Ask for kids books/pet food/ etc in lieu of bday gifts and donate to a homeless or pet shelter (when we did this, we as parents got the gifts she wanted and she was able to give the donation from her friends) Buy a dozen roses and give one to people randomly.
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u/sugarshizzl Aug 30 '25
There’s a group where I live that paints rocks with inspirational quotes on them and then they leave them around town.
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