This holiday season, it’s more important than ever to spread joy and kindness. Teenagers can take advantage of this special time of the year to share acts of kindness with their friends, family, and community.

Engaging in random acts of kindness is a great way to brighten not only the day but also the holiday season. Teens can show others they care by calling elderly relatives just to check in and say hello, surprising a neighbor in need with groceries, or decorating mailboxes with positive messages on hearts. These small but meaningful gestures will make the holidays brighter for everyone involved. 

1. Make a holiday card for a local nursing home resident.

2. Bring cookies or another treat to your neighborhood police station or firehouse.

3. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or food bank

4. Help a neighbor with their holiday decorating

5. Make a holiday wreath for someone you know who is going through a tough time

6. Send a care package to a deployed soldier

7. Donate blood

8. Donate toys to a local toy drive

9. Donate food to a local food bank

10. Shovel snow for an elderly neighbor. 

11. Visit a local nursing home and spend time with the residents

12. Make cards for children in the hospital

13. Bake cookies for your teachers

14. Pay for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop

15. Hold the door open for people

16. Pick up litter in your neighborhood, local park, beach 

17. Offer to help carry someone’s groceries

18. Send a positive text or email to someone you know who is having a tough day

19. Leave a kind note on someone’s car windshield

20. Let someone go ahead of you in line

21. Go caroling for charity with friends or family.

22. Give a stranger a compliment

23. Smile at everyone you pass on the street

24. Donate your old clothes or books to a local charity

25. Help out with chores around the house without being asked.

26. Buy a cup of coffee for an overworked store clerk

27. Write a thank you note to a military veteran

28. Give out handmade cards with encouraging messages in them

29. Help clean up a park

30. Offer to babysit for free so that parents can have a date night.

31. Host a holiday gift wrapping event at your school or community center and donate money raised to charity.

32. Make a donation in someone’s name instead of buying them a gift

33. Clean your room without being asked

34. Volunteer at an animal shelter

35. Write uplifting messages on post-it notes, and leave them around your town for people to find

36. Set out birdseed and food for animals in your area during the winter months

37. Give a stranger a hug

38. Paint rocks and hide them around your community for others to find

39. Thank someone you don’t know for their service as a first responder, teacher, nurse, etc

40. Give a homeless person a pair of warm socks or gloves

41. Volunteer at your local library

42. Write kind words on the sidewalk with chalk

43. Help someone cross the street or carry something heavy for them without being asked

44. Donate old stuffed animals to a children’s hospital

45. Offer to walk someone’s pet for free

46. Help a neighbor with their holiday shopping

47. Give away a handmade craft or item to someone who you think might appreciate it

48. Buy a meal for a homeless person

49. Donate unused school supplies or books to an underprivileged school

50. Give away gently used items to a local thrift store

51. Offer to tutor someone who needs help with their studies

52. Donate your hair to a charity that makes wigs for children with cancer

53. Help out at a senior citizens center by playing board games or doing arts and crafts with the residents 

54. Make a holiday care package for someone who might need it

55. Do something kind for your siblings without them knowing about it

56. Pay for someone’s groceries

57. Give out hot chocolate or coffee to people waiting in line outside during the cold weather

58. Be a listening ear for someone who needs somebody to talk to

59. Start a fundraiser for a good cause

60. Visit a local animal shelter and donate pet food or toys for the animals.

61. Write a thank you note to an essential worker in your community

62. Bake cookies for a neighbor or random person

63. Visit a elderly person and just spend time talking with them

64. Start a snow shoveling business and donate the money to charity

65. Clean up a park or beach in your community.

66. Take part in a charity walk or run and raise money for the cause

67. Offer to mow an elderly neighbor’s lawn for free

68. Donate items to a homeless shelter or food pantry

69. Pick up trash in your neighborhood or local park

70. Write positive notes and stick them on random objects around your town

71. Surprise someone with a handmade gift that you crafted yourself.

72. Mentor someone who is struggling in school or life

73. Buy or make donuts for a fire station

74. Make a meal for a single parent who is struggling to get by

75. Bring flowers or balloons to someone in the hospital

76 Help your neighbor put up their Christmas lights

77 Tape coins/notes to vending machine for stranger to use

78 Start a ‘you’ve been mugged‘ in your street to get everyone in the holiday mood

There are lots of ways for teenagers to get involved in their communities and make a difference this holiday season. From volunteering at a local soup kitchen to helping out at a senior center, there are plenty of opportunities to spread some holiday cheer. And who knows? Maybe those random acts of kindness will inspire others to do the same.