3 easy acts of kindness to try at your Dojo

On Monday, we celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day. This got us thinking about the many ways that members of the CoderDojo community show kindness to each other, and the gratitude that exists for our volunteers. With so much negative content online and in the media, it is important to be reminded of all the good you are doing simply by being involved in this awesome community!

In the CoderDojo community, we see random acts of kindness all the time ❤️

Whether it’s a young person helping their peer with a project, or a volunteer who goes out of their way to ensure every child feels welcome, we are in awe of your kindness ????#RandomActsOfKindnessDay pic.twitter.com/fwGVZ43UIu

— ☯CoderDojo☯ (@CoderDojo) February 17, 2020

Kindness can be contagious, so try out these three easy exercises at your Dojo and watch everyone’s smiles appear!

1. CoderDojo Volunteer of the Month

Show your fellow volunteers how much you appreciate them by nominating them as Volunteer of the Month! 

We know that every volunteer plays an important role at their Dojo, no matter how big or small. Tell us what makes a volunteer in your club a superstar — whether it is warmly welcoming the Ninjas at the beginning of each session, or organising cool projects for them to try out. It only takes 5 minutes.

Nominate someone as Volunteer of the Month today!

2. Send a CoderDojo thank-you card

Make someone’s day by sending them a thank-you card! If you run a Dojo, you may like to acknowledge the venue where you host your club, or a kind sponsor who has donated some equipment. Likewise, you may like to give a card to your volunteers for all their hard work, or to a dedicated parent who always lends a hand at your sessions.

Find our thank-you card template here

Ninjas can also practice their HTML skills by creating a digital thank-you card! Whether it’s for a parent, a teacher, or a volunteer at the Dojo, these cards will undoubtedly be appreciated. Young people can adapt this project to create their very own thank-you message.

3. Paper plate awards

Paper plate awards are a great low-cost way to recognise individual achievement and are lots of fun to make too! At your next Dojo session, pair up Ninjas to decorate paper plate awards for each other. They can give their partner an award based on something they do well or a recent achievement. This could be anything from ‘best listener,’ ‘most socially-conscious project,’ to ‘coolest website’ or ‘kindest youth mentor.’ 

Instead of doing show-and-tell at your next session, you could have a paper plate award ceremony instead!

Find more paper plate award ideas here

One of our favourite CoderDojo mottos is ‘One Rule, Be Cool,’ which means that everyone in a Dojo is kind to one another. We hope that these three tips will help your Dojo members celebrate how cool they already are!