30 Random Acts of Kindness before 30 years old

For my upcoming 30th birthday, I created a “30 before 30” challenge for myself. Part of that challenge was completing 30 Random Acts of Kindness before my birthday! Out of all of the tasks on my birthday bucket list, this was by far my favorite one. Nothing puts you in a better mood than doing something kind for someone who isn’t expecting it!

Earlier this year, I compiled and shared a list of over 110 ideas for random acts of kindness. This post will different in that I will be sharing the 30 RAKs that I actually ended up completing, as well as the printable templates that you will see in many of the pictures (scroll to the bottom of the post for those!)

As always, I share these ideas to hopefully help inspire you to go out and spread some kindness in the world! Imagine what wonderful things could happen if we were ALL a little kinder on a regular basis! Without further ado–here the 30 Random Acts of Kindness that I completed:

1. I hid some bubbles and chalk at a local park for kids to find and play with.

2. I hid dollar bills in the toy section at Dollar Tree.

3. I found a gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond in an old wallet. I left it on a picture frame at the store for a customer to find!

4. I taped positive notes on dressing room mirrors at the store.

5. I hid encouraging notes in parenting books and bookmarks in the children’s chapter books at the library.

6. We picked up litter whenever we passed it on walks or at the park.

7. I left change in the toy machines at the grocery store.

8. Taped a Starbucks gift card and note on a changing table for a mama to find.

9. Left a coupon for free ice cream for someone else to use.

10. Made a “Take what you need” sign and left it in a public space.

11. Donated a ton of books to our library!

12. Left a note in one of my husband’s work shirts for him to find. Obviously he will know who this is from, but I hope it will surprise him when he finds it on a “random” day! 😉

13. Left some snacks for our mail carrier. I happened to glance out the window when he say it and he was SO happy!

14. I left a few bottles of laundry soap at the laundromat as well as some quarters.

15. I left some popcorn in a popcorn container at a few different Redbox locations.

16. Left a pack of wipes with an encouraging note on a changing table.

17. Hid a gift card in the diaper section at Target to hopefully help a mama out.

18. Sent some snail mail, just because it’s fun to get mail!

19. Wrote positive chalk messages around our neighborhood and at the park. I also left the chalk there for kids to play with.

20. Buried some “treasure” in a few sandboxes for kiddos to find. (Make sure to use LARGE toy coins if doing this so they aren’t choking hazards 🙂

21. Created birthday bags to donate to the local food bank: cake mix, frosting, candles, plates, napkins, decorations, a cake pan and soda (can be used in place of eggs/oil). We also donated a few bags of food.

22. I planted some wildflower seeds along the side of the road.

23. I left some new tennis balls at the dog park!

24. Donated collars, toys and other asked for items to our local animal shelter.

25. I left genuine compliments on 15 blogs that I love to follow & also left 5 star reviews on 15 local businesses. These aren’t totally “random” but I hope it will help their businesses and brighten their days!

26. Donated coloring books and crayons to the hospital. Ours actually didn’t have a big need for them (I should have called and asked first!) so I left some on waiting room tables and hid the rest in other public places like the play area at the mall, a park bench, etc.

27. I hid some money in the rides at the mall.

28. I also left some money on a vending machine for the next person to use.

29. I left flowers on people’s cars in the parking garage at the hospital. (Sorry for the low quality picture, I was rushing so I wouldn’t get caught!)

30. My favorite RAKs was painting these “kindness rocks”. I heard about them on Pinterest and LOVE the concept. The idea is that you paint and hide rocks around your community for others to find as a way to spread kindness and joy! Once someone finds your rock they can give it to someone, keep it or rehide it. They have “rock clubs” ALL over the US/world (look for yours on facebook by searching “__ rocks” (insert city or state). You can instruct the finder of your rock to post it in the FB group if you want so you can see once someone discovers it. Such a fun and inexpensive way to leave a positive impact!

Completing these 30 Random Acts of Kindness was the best experience and truly one of my favorite things that I have done this year. Making the shift from focusing on myself, to focusing on others really made a lasting impact on my mood & perspective. My problems didn’t seem quite so big and I found myself more able to find the good in the everyday. I hope that by sharing my ideas that you will be encouraged to spread some kindness and joy too!

Here are the printable templates that I used for my random acts of kindness. I simply printed them on colored card stock and then cut out each rectangle. Keep in mind that there is not a template for each RAK that I did. I didn’t feel like each RAK needed one and just made one when it was appropriate. Click on the photo below to download your copy!

Tap or hover any image to pin and save for later!