Free Kindness Pass-Along Gift Cards (I Love This!)

'Pay it Forward' Acts of Kindness

You've heard the heartwarming stories about people who have committed "random acts of kindness" by tossing extra change into a toll booth for the car behind it, or by paying for a cup of coffee for the next person in line. Often the kind deed is appreciated by the recipient, and wouldn't it be awesome if the incentive to "pass it on" is also present? Now it can be!

To help that "kind energy" to keep moving forward, Creativity Portal's Chris Dunmire has invented one way to inspire more kind acts to continue from person to person through these Kindness Pass-Along Gift Cards. These cards are free for you to download print, and use simply by visiting the website Here.

Family Alternatives To Halloween

There are a variety of reasons why some families might choose to not participate in a traditional Halloween. This doesn’t mean you have to turn out your lights and sit with your children behind closed doors trying to ignore the trick or treaters.
Your children won’t like that.

Why not start a new family tradition for October 31st? You could have a family meeting and make your plans for your special evening. Choose some fun and creative things to do – maybe a board game marathon? Give everyone in the family a special responsibility – each of you can do something to plan, prepare and for your evening. Family times are too rare. Bake some cookies and make some popcorn. Have some family fun.!

One family goes Mystery Bowling as one alternative to Halloween. The bowling alley can be quite empty on Halloween. You can create your own game of Mystery Bowling. The family mentioned on the website,www.christianitytoday.com, has bowled some frames backward, some frames with a bowler's weak hand (left for a right handed bowler and vice versa), and some frames tiptoeing to throw the ball while holding the ball above their heads like Fred Flintstone. You might require that each bowler only have to knock down three or four pins in frame one, but six in frame two, and at least eight in frame three. Any bowler who does not meet the requirement could have to wear something silly in the following frame—a dunce hat, a big curly green wig. A bowler who does meet his scoring requirement could earn a piece of candy or a bag of chips.

As another alternative to Halloween, you might create your own family film festival—making your own movie. You might make a science fiction movie, a western, or whatever you can dream up. Motorcycle helmets could be astronaut equipment, or the equipment of space aliens. If you want to make a pretend western, you could dress up your dog or cat like a horse. Give every member of the family a part and offer advice and assistance. If you have your own camcorder and can actually see your movie when you are done, the activity could be even more fun. If you don't have one, you can maybe borrow one from a friend or your library. You might even want to show the movie to friends and relatives.

Design a “Noah’s Ark Party.” Every creature in the animal kingdom is available as a potential costume. You can purchase inexpensive fleece material in the color of the animal for the costume. Use fabric paint to add details. Instead of a mask, use face paint to draw a mouth, eyebrows, and other animal features.

If you do want to let your children go out to trick or treat on Halloween, there are still things you can do to make the holiday different and more in keeping with your family’s values. Have your children dress in acceptable costumes, like characters from history, sailors, cowboys, ballerinas, princesses, doctors, and firefighters. Accompany your children and go only to the houses of friends and neighbors. You could also find out what churches in the area are having harvest parties and take your children there instead.

Plan a progressive Halloween party in the safety of some of your friends’ homes. Arrange for children to eat a meal at the first home, play games at the next, and eat dessert at the last stop. Everyone joins in the work and expense.

Other fun alternatives to Halloween might be to take your children on a hayride, bob for apples, or even consider a nature hike with your family. First, choose a local park or trail that your family would enjoy exploring. Then, embark on a scavenger hunt for the most beautiful leaf, the smoothest rock, the most interesting stick, the perfect pine cone, or any other desirable treasures you might think of. Bring a paper bag or cloth sack for each family member to put his collectibles in. If you have a digital or instant camera, you can photograph things that can't be taken home with you, such as the prettiest view or the ugliest bug. If you have more time to spare, pack a picnic to take with you on the walk or bring along a species guide for birds or plants to help identify your findings. When you return home, have everyone share their entries for each category and vote on the winners. You'll be amazed at what each person has found. It might even be fun to display the winners for a period of time as a reminder of your hike.

Whatever your family’s beliefs, customs or traditions – Fun is still Fun and there is more than enough fun for everyone!

Calling All Schools - Join the United Nations in Celebrating The International Day of Peace - 21 September

International Day of Peace.org
The United Nations General Assembly designated 21 September as the International Day of Peace, a day of cease-fire and peace-building activities to be celebrated around the world. On Peace Day each year, young people in countries all over the world take a Minute of Silence at 12 noon in their time zone to support the United Nations in its mission of world peace.

Visit The Website to find other ways for your family to participate in this Day of Peace.

PINWHEELS FOR PEACE More than 1350 schools and groups around the world participated last year in the Pinwheels For Peace program to celebrate Peace Day, creating and displaying 1/2 million pinwheels for peace to inspire their communities to imagine whirled peace - This year many more will participate. (www.pinwheelsforpeace.com)


SERVICE FOR PEACE Volunteering for a service project in your community on the International Day of Peace is a tangible way to make a difference for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. (http://serviceforpeace.org/IDP2005.htm)

TREES FOR PEACE Any school can join the more than 300 schools in 90 countries that participate in the ENO Schools program (Environment Online) to plant trees at 12 Noon for the International Day of Peace as a symbol for environmental protection and international co-operation in the field of environmental education, cultural diversity, tolerance and peace. (http://eno.joensuu.fi/treedatabase.htm)

PLANT ROCKS FOR PEACE Ellen Manko in Santa Cruz has created a lesson plan for an International Day of Peace school/family/church activity of decorating peace rocks and 'planting' them as a way to facilitate classroom discussions on peace, cultural diversity, global connection and social responsibility.
(RTF file - 4.1K)

Soaring Words

This week in September has been set aside as National Chronic Illness Awareness Week.
None of us likes to think of any child being ill, but the truth is each year it is estimated that 18% of all children in the U.S. suffer from chronic illnesses. (Source: American Academy of Pediatrics). This means that each year 22 million children and their families and friends, potentially 66 million people in all, face the challenges presented by these catastrophic illnesses.

Soaringwords' mission is to empower communities to embrace ill children and their families to inspire them to "Never give up!" Doctors and hospitals provide medical care, while Soaringwords provides in-person and online support to help boost the child's self-esteem and to reduce feelings of isolation. The fun, creative and educational healing activities provided by Soaringwords include story telling, poetry, art, songs, and photography.

Soaringwords Vision
Soaringwords' success is fueled by volunteers who want to do something fun and meaningful to make hospitalized children and their families feel loved and supported. Many Corporations, Boys & Girls Clubs, community groups, and schools have already embraced over 150,000 children and families through many programs across the Nation.

How Soaringwords Serves Your Community
Soaringwords enlists the help of schools, special-need schools, JCCs, YMCAs, churches, synagogues, after-school programs, community outreach centers, and businesses to create meaningful experiences for chronically ill children. These events bring children, families and seniors together to do something positive to inspire ill children. Our ability to inspire patients to boldly embrace their own healing and to actively help others has strong roots in the tradition embodying Hillel's adage "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?"

We enlist healing resources from the "best of the best" leaders in mind-body wellness (Dr. Ron Taffel, Dr. Marc Siegel, Dr. Gerald Epstein, Rachel Naomi Remen) along with an extensive repertoire of fun and therapeutic activities which are enjoyed in hospital clinics, hospital rooms, pediatric and family lounges, and community settings. Soaringwords initiatives also embrace at-risk children in foster care, and children and families who have been affected by catastrophic events (such as 9/11) and natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Soaringwords initiatives can be layered onto your company's existing programs with local schools, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters programs.

Soaringwords Actvities
Soaringwords' signature event is decorating SoaringQuilts and SoaringPillows with colorful pictures and inspirational messages for hospitalized children. People come together to decorate the quilts and pillows and then bring them to the hospitals to give them directly to the children. People who have completed a Soaringwords project know how rewarding their efforts have been when they see these children receive the beautiful and thoughtful gifts. We also encourage the children in the hospitals to create personal messages and pictures for other children who are sick. This event creates an instant community where everyone involved feels a part of the healing process.

The Soaringwords Resource Center, www.soaringwords.org, is a tremendous resource with the potential to reach millions of children nationwide and around the world with the kinds of interactive experiences that kids love. Some of the tangible healing activities include: Storytelling, Poetry, Art, Songs and Photography.

Please visit SoaringWords for a tour of their inspiring website today.