Random Acts of Kindness: List of 99+ Ideas & Examples

​By Tchiki Davis, MA, PhD
What are random acts of kindness and how might you practice them in your life? Get tons of ideas for how to use random acts of kindness (and boost your well-being).
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Have you ever done something nice for someone else, ‘just because’. It wasn’t to repay them or because you had to—it was simply because you wanted to. Well then, you’ve done a random act of kindness. Read on to learn how to do more random acts of kindness in your life to boost your mood and improve the lives of others.
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What Are Random Acts of Kindness? (A Definition)

Random acts of kindness are acts performed by a person wishing to either help or positively affect another person (Passmore & Oades, 2015). Sometimes random acts of kindness are defined as kind acts that one does only for someone they don’t know (Baskerville et al., 2000), but this doesn’t seem to be the magic ingredient (Curry et al., 2018). Simply being kind has benefits for well-being (and that’s what we’re focused on here).

The Benefits of Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness is one of the most valued character strengths in Western society (​​Binfet, 2015). We like kind people, so being kind can help us be liked. Beyond that, being kind has been shown to boost not only others’ well-being but also our own personal well-being. For example, if we spend more money on others we are generally happier, and if we volunteer to help others, we are generally healthier (Curry et al., 2018).

Why might random acts of kindness be good for us? 
Some researchers have proposed that happiness is just the emotional experience we have when we act in ways that promote our survival. Given that kindness helps us build healthy relationships with others—others who may be able to protect and support us—evolutionary psychologists believe that kindness makes us happy because it helps us survive and thrive. This may be especially true when we help family, friends, community members, and spouses (Curry et al., 2018).

Who practices random acts of kindness?
Researchers suggest that some people are more likely to practice random acts of kindness than others. Here are some of the things that might lead us to be kind:
  • Witnessing our parents engage in random acts of kindness likely makes it more likely that we will too. Monkey see monkey do, right? 
  • If someone tells us that we’re kind, we might also be more likely to engage in random acts of kindness.
  • If we see someone else showing kindness, we are more likely to show kindness. Researchers suggest that kindness is even contagious (Baskerville et al., 2000).

Video: How One Act Of Kindness a Day Can Change Your Life

Examples of Random Acts of Kindness

Many of us want to try random acts of kindness but were just not sure how. What exactly is a random act of kindness anyway? To get you a sense of what we’re talking about, here are a few examples:
  • Giving compliments
  • Giving gifts
  • Saying kind words
  • Showing gratitude
  • Doing an act of service for someone else
  • Being respectful
  • Noticing good things that others do
  • Giving your time to someone else

These are not totally dissimilar from how we might show love to a romantic partner (read more about the love languages here).

Random Acts of Kindness List

Want to start engaging in random acts of kindness? Here’s a big list of ideas. Feel free to do any of these ideas or change them in ways that fit your life or your style.

  1. Compliment someone on one of their personality traits 
  2. Write a handwritten card to someone to say thanks
  3. Text a friend to share your gratitude for something they did for you
  4. Leave a positive review online of a restaurant you like
  5. Tell a friend what you love about their children
  6. Compliment a photo someone posts on social media
  7. Let someone cut in front of you in line
  8. Introduce two people who you think would get along
  9. Pick up trash on the ground and put it in the garbage
  10. Compliment someone on their clothing or hair
  11. Use old grocery bags to pick up dog poop you see on your neighbor's lawn
  12. Shovel snow off the sidewalk in your neighborhood
  13. Offer to mow the lawn for an elderly neighbor
  14. Give up your seat on the plane to let a couple sit together
  15. Talk to someone at a party that doesn’t seem to know anyone
  16. Invite someone new in your town to a social event and introduce them to everyone
  17. Invite a friend that you haven’t seen in a while out to lunch
  18. Offer to pick up a friend at the airport
  19. Reach out to an old friend to let them know of an experience you had with them that you value
  20. Spend time with the elderly at a local retirement home
  21. Address your cashier, waiter, or other service people by their first names
  22. Offer to bring someone else's grocery cart back to the store
  23. Keep an extra pen in your purse to give people when they need one
  24. Put a positive note in a library book
  25. Attend events that support your friends’ passions (like an art show, musical performance, etc…)
  26. Donate unused items to charity
  27. Bring snacks to the local fire station
  28. Keep packs of toothpaste or packs of socks in your bag to give to homeless people
  29. Post an uplifting photo on a friend’s social media
  30. Compliment someone on something they’ve done or accomplished
  31. Tell a parent that they’re doing a great job raising their kids
  32. Bring or send your mother flowers
  33. Bring a friend a small gift next time you see them
  34. Buy a warm meal to give to a homeless person
  35. Share an article, event, or other information with someone who might be interested
  36. Help to connect a friend seeking a job to someone who has a job to offer
  37. Help a neighbor bring in their groceries
  38. Make dinner for your friend group
  39. Compliment a neighbor on how nice their yard looks
  40. Bring in the trash bins for your neighbor after trash has been picked up
  41. Send an email to a former teacher to let them know how they impacted your life
  42. Leave a thank you note in your mailbox for your mail carrier
  43. Give a flower to a stranger
  44. Buy a gift card to give to a stranger
  45. Ofter to be there for a friend when they are struggling with something
  46. Give bottles of water to people working outside on a hot day
  47. Buy a sandwich for the next person in the lunch line
  48. Leave a sticky note with a positive note somewhere public, like at a bus stop
  49. Bring brownies to your next neighborhood association meeting
  50. Scrape the ice off the car windshield of the car next to yours
  51. Leave a positive comment on someone else's social media post, #ProsocialPost
  52. Put coins in someone’s parking meter that is about to run out
  53. Slow down to let someone merge in front of you in traffic
  54. Be on time (don’t waste others’ time)
  55. Hold the door open for the person walking behind you
  56. Make a double batch of dinner so that you can give a meal to someone in need
  57. Give directions to someone who is lost
  58. Give an extra big tip when eating out
  59. Practice compassion when someone else is struggling
  60. Be self-compassionate when you’re struggling with something
  61. Share veggies you grow in your garden with friends, neighbors, and family
  62. Become an organ donor
  63. Volunteer at the local animal shelter
  64. Bring dinner to a friend who's just had a baby
  65. Build a “little free library” box in your yard with books for everyone to read

Ideas for Random Acts of Kindness at Work

  1. ​Donate a sick day to someone who’s dealing with a chronic illness
  2. Tell your boss what you appreciate about him/her
  3. Cover a coworker’s shift
  4. Tell a joke to lighten the mood during a difficult task
  5. Bring extra snacks to share with coworkers
  6. Write a handwritten card to a coworker thanking them for their help on something
  7. Invite the new guy at work out to lunch
  8. Tell your boss about the great work that your coworkers are doing
  9. Bring a coworker a cup of coffee
  10. Leave a sticky note for a work colleague saying what you appreciate about them
  11. Make cookies for everyone in your workplace
  12. Mentor someone
  13. Help others when they need help
  14. Offer to lighten someone else's load by doing some of their work
  15. Send an email to someone who helped you grow in your career

Ideas for Random Acts of Kindness in Relationships

  1. Help your partner bring in the groceries
  2. Buy your partner something they’ve been wanting
  3. Take care of the kids (or other responsibilities) so your partner can go out or relax
  4. Do your romantic partner’s chores
  5. Give your partner a random gift
  6. Get a couples massage for the two of you
  7. Tell your partner what you love about them
  8. Spend a day noticing the small stuff you love about your partner and share what you noticed
  9. Find a way to help your partner reach their dreams (e.g., if she’s a painter, buy her some paints, or if he wants to become a lawyer, offer to introduce him to someone who can offer advice)
  10. Make dinner (and dessert) for your partner

Random Acts of Kindness for Kids

There has been a recent push to teach children how to engage in prosocial acts like random acts of kindness (​​Binfet, 2015). Given how we learn everything easier when we’re young and how beneficial kindness can be for relationships, health, and well-being, it makes sense to encourage kids to engage in random acts of kindness. But what does kindness mean when it comes to children?

Kids are not totally unlike adults. According to researchers, kids’ perspective of kindness is that it is “an act of emotional or physical support that helps build or maintain relationships with others” (Binfet & Gaertner, 2015, pp. 36-37). Given this definition, what might be some random acts of kindness for kids? Here are some ideas.

Ideas for random acts of kindness for kids
  1. Sharing crayons or other supplies with other kids
  2. Giving someone a gift like a sticker, flower, or colorful eraser
  3. Saying thanks to a fellow student for help with schoolwork
  4. Bringing your teacher an apple as a gift
  5. Getting a bandaid for another kid when they get a cut
  6. Telling friends what you like about them
  7. Offering to help mom or dad make dinner
  8. Cleaning up your bedroom without being asked
  9. Making a dandelion necklace for a friend
  10. Bringing extra snacks in your lunchbox for kids who don’t have any

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Given how beneficial random acts of kindness are for our (and others’) well-being, there is now officially a random acts of kindness day, which is held on February 17th of each year (in the US). Sometimes, the week surrounding random acts of kindness day is also called random acts of kindness week. This day (and week) is meant to celebrate and encourage random acts of kindness. The hope is that it’ll encourage acts of altruism, kindness, community service, and generally ‘paying it forward’.

​Random Acts of Kindness Quotes

​Do you need some inspiration to start engaging in random acts of kindness? Here are some cute quotes that will hopefully get you fired up:
  • “Kindness is doing what you can, where you are, with what you have --RAKtivist
  • “Be kind whenever possible. Pro tip—It is always possible” —sign in my town (originally, the 14th Dalai Lama
  • “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.” --Morgan Freeman
  • “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” --Maya Angelou
  • “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” --Abraham Joshua Heschel
  • “You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Compassion isn’t about solutions. It’s about giving all the love that you’ve got.” —Cheryl Strayed
  • “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” —Princess Diana

Random Acts of Kindness Videos

Watching other people engage in random acts of kindness may help us to follow suit. So here are some videos that might inspire and motivate you.

Video: Random Acts of Flowers

Video: Random Acts of Kindness - Faith In Humanity Restored

More Articles Related to Kindness

If you want to keep learning about random acts of kindness and other prosocial activities, here are a few good articles to check out.

Products & Books Related to Kindness

Here are some books to explore if you want to keep learning about kindness and the positive impacts it can have on your life.

    Random Acts of Kindness Activity ​

    Here's an activity that may help you engage in random acts of kindness. Get started by 1.) setting a clear goal, 2.) committing to your goal in writing, and 3.) creating implementation intentions, or a "plan B", to stay on track with your goals. The tool below will aid you with this process while simultaneously helping us learn more about acts of kindness.
    Note. Submitting your responses helps us to better understand acts of kindness. If you want to keep your responses, you'll have to save to PDF or print this page. Thanks!

Final Thoughts on Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness is a fantastic tool to use to grow your well-being. It’s not only good for you but has a positive impact on others. Hopefully, you discovered some ways to practice random acts of kindness so that you can more easily implement this tool in your real life.

References

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