I am a Step2 Ambassador and am partnering with Step2 for the following review. I received a product in exchange for my review and honest opinion.
My kiddos and I all share the same birth month of July. This year I wanted to celebrate by doing a few random acts of kindness, otherwise known as RAOK, with my kids. The idea popped in my head when we were walking through a store a couple months ago and my soon to be 4 year old starting pointing out all the toys he wanted for his birthday. “I want that, and that, and that”, he continued. It sparked an idea and a plan to get him to see how much fun giving could be too. The plan was to do as many RAOK in the month of July as possible. We had a lot of fun baking cookies for the local fire department (and getting to tour the station), secretly dropping off gifts to our friends and so much more!
For our grand finale, and with the help of The Step2 Company, we were able to donate a playhouse to Logan’s preschool. Logan was able to go with us to drop the Neat & Tidy II playhouse off at his school and he was able to test it out. The playhouse has a working doorbell that was a big hit with Logan. It also has a swinging door, small play grill, little sink/counter, a spot for a flower bed, mail slot and working shutters. Awesome for pretend play! My 4 year old is off the charts in height (he’s as tall as most 1st graders) and he still easily fit underneath the house, so it’s definitely a toy that will grow with your kiddo and can be used by multiple siblings. I love the size of this house because it doesn’t take up a ton of space and can be put inside a playroom or classroom if you’d like. Several children can also enjoy it at the same time.
I half expected a meltdown as we left the playhouse behind, especially because Logan loved it so much, but to my surprise he told us that he was excited to share it with his school friends. A 4 year old excited to share anything is a total win and I’ve enjoyed watching Logan discover a love for giving. Thank you Step2 for making such a generous donation and helping us with our RAOK month! Children learn through play and I can’t think of a more worthwhile cause that will directly impact a child’s education. Our kids will thrive if we as parents support our local schools and teachers. I think we’ve found ourselves a new birthday month tradition and I’m already looking forward to next year!
For those of you wanting to plan a RAOK month (or week, day, year) with your own kiddos, I recommend starting small and doing things that will resonate with your children. What matters to them? You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a big impact. I wanted this to be an attainable goal and have some fun at the same time, so we didn’t set a specific number of RAOK to do. I helped my 4 year old come up with a list of people he’d like to do something nice for – his friends, our neighbors, his grandparents, firemen, homeless, etc. Then, we brainstormed what we wanted to do for each person or group. Here are the random acts of kindness that we did:
1. Donate old toys to a local shelter.
2. Bake cookies for the local fire station.
3. Pay for someone’s meal behind us in line at Dunkin Donuts.
4. Make bath salts for our favorite swim coach.
5. Donate a Step2 playhouse to our preschool.
6. Bake muffins for our neighbors.
7. Secretly drop off bubbles for our friends.
8. Donate pet supplies to a local animal shelter.
9. Paint a picture for the grandparents.
10. Smile at someone and ask them how their day is.
11. Put together blessing bags for the homeless.
What are some kid-friendly RAOK ideas that you have? I’d love to add them to our list for next year!
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