Kindness Rocks!

One of the things that has always bothered me as teacher/parent are kids at recess who feel they have no one to play with.  I know a lot schools do the buddy bench but it takes real guts to sit on that bench and proclaim that you are all alone and need someone to come rescue you.  So I got to thinking about an alternative to save face but to also get some inspiration.  This came in the from camping at a State Park in Michigan where my kids found a painted rock.  On the back was a Facebook page address, which I followed, and saw a huge group people painting rocks to spread joy or for the fun of it.  This was it!  

Next step was the research, aka Pinterest!  There I found other schools across the country doing the same thing.  They were decorating their playgrounds and adding inspiration.  Another teacher at my school had the same idea, to decorate rocks as living legacy that stayed on the grounds forever.  One day to come back and see the rock they painted when they were in grade school. 

Once a plan was in place, I wrote grant for three teachers to receive all the supplies they needed to make the magic happen.  The only problem was that I forgot about the rocks!

Four wheelbarrow loads, hand picked from our pumpkin patch, and we were ready to go.  I laid gardening fabric down on the ugliest area of our playground and placed the "Kindness Rocks!" sign smack dab in the middle.   

To help the kids get started I created a presentation to show them how to use and take care of the supplies while also guiding them on ideas to help inspire others.  In the end, I found that printing and laminating small cards of different ideas was much less stressful.  I still had some come up with their own unique ideas, but the artistic scaffolding helped! 

Good luck on your own "Kindness Rocks!" garden. 

Sincerely, 
​Karen Delaney