Deena and I joined the Random Acts of Kindness movement a while ago and ever since have continued to share some of the posts from the website. The great news is it seems that many others have jumped on board with this movement as well (not as much our doing as it is the doing of so many others at spreading the word). In fact, I have heard so much about Random Acts of Kindness lately that it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Recently my friend and neighbor, Ashley, mentioned she was going to change up her kids’ Advent calendar this year to include these Random Acts of Christmas Kindness (RACK). So this whole idea is not my own, but instead I jumped on the coat tails of my friend as well as the coat tails of strangers I found on Pinterest who are doing the same thing.
FIRST, I had to make an Advent calendar. There is nothing religious about my design (although some may feel very religious about candy):
However, this far exceeds last year’s countdown to Christmas which was made from scrapbook paper, could barely hold a piece of chocolate, and started falling apart before Christmas even got here. No, this year I upgraded. This year I used toilet paper rolls. Ta-da!
Oh yeah, only the best for my family. Now before you get all grossed out, I only used toilet paper rolls from our own bathrooms (I did not ask for donations). So if the TP rolls are funky, it’s our own funk and not someone else’s, of course.
Also, if you look closely, my countdown only goes up to the 21st….come on family, use the bathroom more often already!! Maybe I’ll make beans for dinner tonight…and tomorrow for lunch, and dinner again, until I get 3 more toilet paper rolls.
Anyway, I had a huge list of RACK ideas from my friend, Pinterest and the Random Act of Kindness website, but the hardest part was organizing the list by day. I had to take into account all of our schedules and spent a lot of time writing and re-writing my list. I’ve shared my list below for anyone who wants ideas for now or in the future for any reason whatsoever.
I’m really excited to see how my kids react to this and even more excited to see how much they will learn from this experience. I don’t think kids are ever too young to learn the power of kindness, the satisfaction of giving and the pride that comes with making someone smile.
So get RACKing!
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Angela’s kids’ Advent calendar RACK list:
Thursday, Dec 1 – Write thank you notes to your teachers
Friday, Dec 2 – Bring neighbors’ trash cans from the curb to garage doors
Saturday, Dec 3 – Call grandparents and tell them that you love them
Sunday, Dec 4 – Bring Christmas tree tag gift card to church
Monday, Dec 5 – Donate needed items to the local homeless shelter
Tuesday, Dec 6 – Donate toys to Toys 4 Tots
Wednesday, Dec 7 – Go to library and pay overdue fees for 5 people and while there, put dollar bills in some of your favorite books
Thursday, Dec 8 – Count your blessings and write them down
Friday, Dec 9 – Tape microwave popcorn to Redbox machine
Saturday, Dec 10 – Pick up trash/litter anytime you see it today
Sunday, Dec 11 – Put a candy cane on 10 cars in the neighborhood
Monday, Dec 12 – Write a thank you note for the crossing guard at school
Tuesday, Dec 13 – Bring care packages to carline helpers
Wednesday, Dec 14 – Leave treats on 3 neighbors’ porches
Thursday, Dec 15 – Bring treats to CCD teacher and office staff
Friday, Dec 16 – Deliver towels/blankets to animal shelter
Saturday, Dec 17 – Donate coloring books, crayons and magazines to hospital waiting room
Sunday, Dec 18 – Bring $1 from piggy bank to church to put in the collection basket
Monday, Dec 19 – Help organize toys for the Salvation Army
Tuesday, Dec 20 – Help organize toys for the Salvation Army
Wednesday, Dec 21 – Deliver treats to local fire department
Thursday, Dec 22 – Leave treats in mailbox for mailman
Friday, Dec 23 – Leave treats out for trash collectors
Saturday, Dec 24 – Enjoy Christmas with people you love and sing happy birthday to Jesus
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UPDATE: Merely FIVE minutes after I wrote this article, I find this in the bathroom:
Seriously family?? I only said in huge, bold, bubble letters to NOT throw out any toilet paper rolls. Sheesh.
I love it. I’m gonna make it to my girls. Thank you.
Hi there. I just finished wrapping all 25 rolls. And I’m thinking how can I store this so it doesn’t crush for next year?
I hang mine on a hook on a wall in the same location as my other Christmas decorations and it has held up very well. Sometimes I have to re-glue or re-staple things when I take it out for the season.
I love the random acts of kindness countdown. We are totally going to have to do this next year. Maybe we will do the last 12 days before Christmas this year. Mikie might under stand a little this year. Thanks for the great idea. Oh, I use toilet paper rolls for lots of craft. I mean it is covered by the toilet paper until it is all gone so really its not so bad:)
Hi, I am just wondering what paper you used? I have tissues and I have tulle, but this paper looks a bit hardier, and since I am mailing this as a gift, I am afraid tissue or tulle will not be so sturdy.
Thanks!
Hi Jessica – I used scrapbook paper to glue around the outside of the toilet paper rolls, but for the candy/notes inside the rolls, I used regular tissue paper, like what you would put in a gift box or gift bag. I hope that helps!
For those who are interested, I have a list of 80 acts of kindness ideas for children and families to do during December as an advent count-down to Christmas here: http://angathome.com/2014/11/20/blessing-buddies-80-acts-of-kindness-ideas-for-a-christian-elf-on-the-shelf-alternative/
Awesome, thanks!
What did you use for the inside of the toilet paper rolls? Paper? I can’t tell from the picture!
Thanks! Love this idea!
Thanks! Yes, I used tissue paper! I put the treats or little notes on the tissue paper and rolled them up and twisted the ends. Then I put them through the toilet paper rolls with the ends sticking out to look like candy.
Shared this last year and will be sharing this again! Great idea and resource!
Thanks Sheila!
I knew I was saving those toilet paper rolls for something! I have the stuff to make this right now! 🙂
Awesome Melissa! So glad your toilet paper rolls won’t go to waste! 😉
Awesome, thanks Kelly! I like the clean up someone else’s mess idea because I constantly telling them how I have to clean up after everyone else. They need to feel my pain, haha. 🙂
Ok. So I’m not as crafty nor as organized as you. We have our own little house that Grandpa made for us. It’s usually just filled with candy, but today I’ve spent some time creating notes to stick in each one too. I wanted to throw two more ideas out there that I’m including that hopefully will be easy enough for my boys to initiate and do on their own.
1.) Clean up a mess that you didn’t make.
2.) Be kind to three new people. (that’s what I wrote although I intend to explain that I mean three people who aren’t your usual buddies or playmates…)
🙂
Heather, thanks so much!! I happened to have lots of extra scrap paper that I used, but wrapping paper would work just as well (4.5 x6 inches is the measurement needed for TP rolls, just fyi!). You could cut down paper towel rolls too. If you get 24 TP rolls between now and Dec 1, I will be REALLY impressed (or worried, haha!). Seriously though, yes I had a small stapler that I used to staple them all together. I’m really excited for December to get here!!
This is SOO stinking cute!! (and of course a wonderful idea too!) The question is, getting those toilet paper rolls together in the next few days. hmm… Did you just use wrapping paper to wrap it, and then staple them together? Thanks for the idea! Heather
Thanks Kate! The awesome (or not so awesome) thing is I had so much scrapbooking paper that I didn’t need to spend any money to make this!
So well done Angela! Love that you put some of the scrapbooking paper to use. Your list is perfect : ) Thanks for sharing.