🎄 Holiday Kindness Countdown with the Breadcrumbz
The holidays are a perfect time to sprinkle kindness like confetti — and who better to lead the way than The Breadcrumbz? ✨ This year, create a Holiday Kindness Countdown with your kids — a fun, meaningful way to prepare for the holidays while teaching the power of generosity, empathy, and connection.
Each day leading up to the holidays, Penelope Pumpernickel, Rachel Rye, Samantha Sourdough, and Whitney Wheat will inspire your kids to do one simple act of kindness. By the end of the countdown, your family will have built a tradition that warms more than just your home. ❤️
What You’ll Need
A small bulletin board, poster board, or a string with clothespins
24 envelopes, small bags, or folded cards
Markers, stickers, and ribbon
A list of 24 kindness activities (see ideas below!)
The Breadcrumbz characters (printables, cutouts, or drawings!)
How to Create Your Countdown
Decorate Your Display
Invite the kids to help decorate your board or string. Use Breadcrumbz character cutouts — Rachel Rye can be your “Kindness Keeper,” while Samantha Sourdough encourages confidence to try new acts.Fill with Kindness Activities
On each card or slip of paper, write one act of kindness. Examples:“Leave a kind note on a neighbor’s door” (Penelope Pumpernickel)
“Hold the door open for someone” (Whitney Wheat)
“Bake cookies for a friend” (Samantha Sourdough)
“Say something kind to three people today” (Rachel Rye)
Countdown Together
Each day, pick a card and complete the act together. This builds excitement and creates intentional connection moments as a family.
Why It Matters
Acts of kindness during the holidays help kids build empathy, confidence, and compassion — traits that last long after the season ends. It’s not just about what they do, but about the conversations and togetherness that follow.
The Breadcrumbz remind us that kindness is a gift that grows the more we give it away.
Below are 30 examples of kindness you can choose from (or feel free to make some of your own with your kids!)
Kindness at Home
Make a holiday card for a family member.
Help set the table without being asked.
Give someone in your family a genuine compliment.
Help wrap presents for siblings or parents.
Clean up your toys or room as a surprise.
Leave a kind note on a family member’s pillow.
Offer to help bake holiday treats and share them with others.
Create a “thank you” list of people in your family and tell them why they matter.
Kindness for Friends & Neighbors
Make homemade cards and deliver them to neighbors.
Leave a little “kindness treat” at a friend’s door.
Invite a classmate who might be lonely to play.
Shovel snow, rake leaves, or help tidy a neighbor’s yard.
Sing or record a holiday greeting to send to friends.
Donate gently used toys to a local charity together.
Write “You’re amazing!” notes and tape them to friends’ lockers or desks.
Kindness in the Community
Collect canned goods and donate to a local food bank.
Donate warm hats or gloves to a winter clothing drive.
Make a “thank you” poster for your mail carrier or delivery drivers.
Deliver cookies or baked goods to your local fire or police station.
Visit (or write letters to) a local nursing home.
Leave quarters at a vending machine or laundromat for someone else to use.
Pack a small care bag for someone in need (socks, snacks, water).
Participate in a community holiday cleanup event.
Kindness in Everyday Moments
Hold the door open for others.
Smile at five people today — kindness is contagious!
Say “thank you” to everyone who helps you during the day.
Let someone else go first in line or at a game.
Draw a cheerful picture and hang it where others can see.
Help a sibling or friend with homework or a chore.
Share a story, game, or craft with someone younger than you.
