Acts of kindness have never felt more important than they do this year. And since kinds are naturally inclined toward kindness, we wanted to give this post a bump this year.

Because when Christmas is over, Santa is back at the North Pole, the toys are all unwrapped, we will be wondering what else to do to entertain our sweet, energetic children — who have already been home with us more than they’d probably like. (At least if you have older tweens and teens, poor kids.)

If there’s ever a time to let the kids watch a wee too much television, this is it. But it’s also an excellent time to remind the kids that doing good things for others can happen at any time of the year.

This post has been updated for 2020

So in the spirit of giving that we want to encourage over the holidays, and especially in 2020, we’ve pulled together a dozen acts of kindness that you can do with the kids.

Pick one, pick a few, or consider chosing one to do each month for the entire year. Because acts of kindness are great ideas, whenever they occur.

Related: 19 random acts of kindness you can do with your kids any time

Finding Kindness is a beautiful new book we all love 

1. Play “kindness fairy”

Spend an afternoon leaving little bags of treats on neighbors’ doorsteps, quarters on a parking meter, snacks where your delivery person drops packages. Use your imagination to come up with even more ideas.

The free printable Acts of Kindness tags (shown above) from Inspiration Made Simple are a bright way to let people know what you’re doing, while still keeping your anonymity, since it’s fun to do kind things without the expectation of thanks.

(And uh, you don’t have to film it and put it on social media; it’s okay to be kind for the sake of being kind — not to go viral.)

2. Remember the troops

Think about our amazing service men and women who have been stationed overseas for the holidays (or anytime) by coloring pictures and writing notes for the troops. Organizations like Operation Gratitude will make sure your letters or packages get where they need to go.

We’ve also put together a great list of 11 top-rated veterans organizations offering everything from adaptive housing to service dogs to support exclusively for women — maybe pick one with the kids that speaks to them, and make an end-of-year charitable donation together.

3. Pick a charity and raise a few bucks for them

Speaking of charitable donations — it may be too cold for lemonade where many of us live, but we love the idea of making some great homemade hot cocoa and setting up a hot chocolate stand for charity as you can see above, from The Princess and the Frog. (Note for 2020: Only if you can do this safely!)

Alternatively you can can use social media, next-door, or class lists for neighborhood friends to collect orders for homemade cookies, chocolate bark,  or other treats that can be picked up to raise money.

There are any number of charities you may be inclined to support, but this year, please consider non-profits supporting out-of-work restaurant workers or performing artists, or food charities and soup kitchen that are doing incredible work for the enormous number of food-insecure people right now, maybe right in your own community.

4. Donate stuff. Good stuff.

Go through your kids’ overflowing toy bins and book shelves and decide what they’d like to donate to a local charity or children’s organization. Consider unopened birthday gifts, craft sets that have gone unused, books in great quality.

We especially love Second Chance toys, which makes it suer easy to donate new or gently used plastic toys. They’ll even pick them up or let you ship for free. Or LEGO Replay that lets you donate your used bricks to kids in need.

In fact, be sure to spend some time together with the kids cleaning up their items, making sure all the pieces are in the game and there are no scribbles in the book. This little extra care helps teach kids that we should donate mindfully, as if we are giving a gift to someone else — not just “throwing away” what they no longer want.

Related: 21 ways your family can volunteer for your own community. Small scale, big impact/

5. Pay a visit to your local first responders. Bring cookies.

Free printable Christmas cookie gift labels via Frog Prince Paperie

It’s always a good time to bake a fresh batch of cookies or homemade brownies and deliver them to your local first responders as a way of saying thank you. We know our fire stations are always thankful! Or keep the oven off and even make no-bake cookies with a holiday theme, it’s all good.

This year, you might also consider making some for front-line medical workers and delivering them safely to a local hospital.

Ask the kids to include a handwritten note or drawing as well — and here are some great ideas for how to package cookies to make them more gifty.

6. Help a neighbor out

If you live in a snowy area, grab the kids and head out one day with shovels to dig out a neighbor’s walkway before they notice you’re there. Pretend you are ninja snow shovelers and try to be as quiet as possible though be ready to yell SURPRISE if you get “caught.”

But there are lots of ways to do nice things for neighbors, whether you’re delivering unexpected treats or a homemade casserole for no reason, or fixing that mailbox hinge for them that’s been broken for a year.

You can even bring an amaryllis or a small succulent to a neighbor who could use a little cheering up now that their grown children and grandchildren have returned home after the holidays.

7. Paint kindness rocks

We’ve loved the painted kindness rocks trend and hope it doesn’t go away soon. Have the kids leave one by each mailbox — or each apartment door — for your neighbors to discover. It’s such a colorful way to bring a little brightness into a person’s day and it’s so easy to do.

8. Beautify a public space

You don’t have to spend a whole weekend in work gloves and waders (unless you want to) — it could be as simple as having the kids draw happy pictures to hang randomly on telephone poles; picking up garbage that’s accumulated in a small area; or even printing out inspiring quotes on brightly colored sheets of paper for storekeepers to hang in their windows.

Liz’s stepfather always plants tulip bulbs along random stretches of grass in their neighborhood and their neighbors love discovering them every spring!

Or just go to town with some sidewalk chalk, if it’s not snowy where you live.

Related: Kids and activism: 10 smart ways they can put their passion to good use.

9. Do something nice for animals

Don’t forget our feathered friends this winter! I want to make some birdseed feeder ornaments for the birds using Little Bins Little Hands’ peanut-butter-free recipe. They will look so cute if you use your cookie cutters and then hang them where you can watch the birds enjoying them.

You can also empty out your linen closet and have the kids help you sort out older sheets and towels to donate to local animal shelter. On your way there, stop at a local pet store to buy some new toys to the animals and bring them all over to the shelter.

Make sure you leave enough time to say hello to all the animals awaiting adoption — offer to walk shelter dogs if that’s an option for you, visit a local cat cafe, or drop a few bucks in a collection jar for the ASPCA .

10. Make a very special card for one very special person in your child’s life.

Kate just shared this beautiful idea for the kids to make a handwritten card for the grandparents. But they’re not the only ones who might appreciate a handmade card, especially this year when we’re missing so many of the people we love.

Of course we love teachers and coaches but there are so many people who’d appreciate the kindness. Maybe you give a note to the kids’ favorite librarian who always finds them the perfect book to read. Or to the teller at the bank who knows what color lollipop they like best. Or the supermarket cashier or coffee barista or your dedicated postal carrier, who we are probably appreciating more than ever right now.

(If you can, and it’s legal, sneak a $5 coffee gift card in the card for an extra-special surprise treat.)

Related: Renegade Made helps kids create random acts of kindness through crafting

11. Pay for something small for someone

Buy the coffee for the person behind you in line. Pay for the toll of the driver behind you (provided you’re not in the EZ Pass lane). Pay off the library fine for the next person who comes in with one. It’s just so cool to show the kids that a random act of kindness like this can make you feel good, even without any acknowledgment or thanks.

And hey, we really love actress Katlyn Carlson’s acts of kindness reminder: If you can pay for a coffee for someone who was going to buy their own anyway, put that cash into a tip jar for the baristas, or at least match it for them. They’re working hard over the holidays.

12. Get the kids involved in your charitable donations

Of course, making bigger donations count as acts of kindness, and it’s so nice to do this as a family.

If you’re making year-end charitable donations, get the kids involved by letting them search Donors Choose for a classroom project they’d like to support. (We love them so much, we included a Donors Choose gift card as one of our  favorite meaningful gifts for kids.) Your science lover may want to help a teacher buy a microscope, while your avid reader may want to help buy copies of their favorite book for a classroom in need.

You can also do what Liz does with her kids each year — visit the WWF website and let each kid pick out an animal to “adopt” with your donation, or choose which part of the country to preserve through the Nature Conservancy.

Or hey, sit down and talk to your kids a bit, and find out just what cause is important to them. From education in other countries, to gun violence prevention, saving the planet from climate change, to an issue right in your own neighborhood like saving a park, you might be surprised to see where your kids hearts are.

The best part is that this is the kind of generosity that is welcome any time of year at all. In fact, sometimes picking a random day to do this makes it a true act of kindness that the kids will surely remember.