Practice Exercise 7 – Creative Kindness (30 points)

First, you need to brainstorm to come up with a list of ten things that you could do and
list them below under Part A. The goal of this part of the exercise is to enable you to be
as creative as possible in coming up with new ways to try to be kind. The goal is to find
things that (1) use your strengths, (2) put you in flow, and (3) are so enjoyable that they
may motivate you to do them again (and again!). It is your responsibility to find new
ways to express kindness that are both interesting and fun. These are three steps to
help you do this:
Step 1. Watch the 22 Random Acts of Kindness video and write down those that
you would like to try.
Step 2. Do a google search for ideas of acts of kindness such as this list of “101
Best Random Acts of Kindness Ideas”:
https://www.naturalbeachliving.com/acts-of-kindness/
Step 3. Review these kindness examples from the 340 Ways to Use Your
Strengths
1. Do three random acts of kindness per week for those whom you know (e.g., small
favors for friends and neighbors, calling sick or sad friends, getting groceries for a friend
busy in exams, or baby-sitting, etc).
2. Do one random act of kindness weekly for someone you don’t know.
3. Donate blood periodically.
4. Visit someone who is sick and in the hospital.
5. Visit someone in a nursing home or hospice.
6. Give gifts to others which involve experiential activities.
7. Take out a friend(s) on a surprise dinner and pay for it.
8. Say kinder and softer words to people when interacting through email, writing letters,
talking on phone.
9. Cook a nice meal for your loved ones.
10. Share your belongings with others (e.g., lawn mover, snow blower, jump cables).
11. Make an inventory of your possessions, keep only what you absolutely need, and
donate the rest.
12. Donate your time to others through helpful actions.
13. Greet others with smile.
14. While driving, give way to others or hold the door.
15. Help fix someone’s flat tire.
16. Fix a community apparatus (such as playground equipment) even if you did not
break it.
17. Stop and help someone who needs help on a highway.
After you have come up with a list of 10 things that you would like to try, choose three
that you can do this week and do them on different days. Be sure to choose a clearly
defined time and place to do them. After you have done them, answer the questions
under Part B below. If possible, try to do at least one thing for someone who you know
and one thing for someone you don’t know.
Guidelines for Grading: There are a maximum of 30 points available for this assignment.
You will be given 1 points for each clear, specific, and unique (different from your other
answers) idea for doing a kind act. You will be given up to 6 points for thoughtful and
specific answers to the questions about each of the three acts of kindness (3 points for
what did you do and 3 points for what happened). You will be given 2 points if you do at
least one thing for someone you know and another thing for someone you don’t know.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER (Please type your answers below)
Part A: What are ten new ways that you could express kindness?
1. Buy dinner for my mom
2. Fold my partner’s laundry
3. Gather trash from my neighborhood
4. Make shelters for stray cats in my back yard
5. Help my mom clean her garage
6. Compliment strangers at my workplace
7. Donate pet food to an animal shelter
8. Stick notes around outside that say compliments
9. Leave a huge tip on a restaurant order
10. Hand out hand warmers to unhoused people in my area

Part B: What did you do and what happened (for example, how did you feel and
how did others respond)?
Day 1: Gather trash in my neighborhood
1. What did you do?
I walked around my section of my street (between the two cross streets) and bagged up some
trash. There had recently been a huge pile of garbage left by someone, and lots of small bits
around the street in general. I filled most of a garbage bag.
2. What happened?
I had one neighbor yell “thank you!” from her car as she left her driveway, and one other person
waved and smiled at me. It felt nice to contribute to my community.
Day 2: Help my mom clean her garage
1. What did you do?
I went over to my mom’s house after work and helped her throw some garbage out, fill her car
with things to donate, and organize the mess in the garage.
2. What happened?
The garage looks way better, and there is also a lot more room for her to park her car and store
her craft supplies. Beforehand, it was pretty messy and now it is a lot more organized.
Day 3: Make shelters for stray cats in my back yard
1. What did you do?
I got foam board from Home Depot, some plastic bins from walmart, and some straw bedding
from Tractor Supply. I cut holes in the bins, placed smaller bins inside those ones, filled the gap
in between the bin walls with foam, then filled the small bins with straw to act as a bed for the
stray cats to hide from the rain and stay warm overnight.
2. What happened?
All of them were used the first night, so my partner and I made a couple more. We have 5 total
now, and they are used nightly by various strays that have nowhere to go when it freezes at
night.