24 Kindness Tasks for a Classroom or a Family Advent Calendar

December is a good month to be asked to do something kind, and a better one to be handed a small, doable way to do it. This page is for a teacher who wants a kindness calendar for the weeks before the winter break, and for a parent who wants the same for a household. The doors are tasks, not gifts: a message to write, a person to thank, a job to do for someone else. It’s one of the doors in the plan at what to put in a digital advent calendar, where kindness tasks fill the “thing to do” doors.

The maker is free, with 24 doors, no account for the person who opens the calendar, and one link to send; the email address you give is used once, for the secret edit link. A class calendar usually has fewer doors, because a school term does not run to December 24: the page on a classroom calendar with one door per school day has the 22-door version.

What teachers say about running one

A TES listing for an “Interactive Christmas Kindness Advent Calendar”, last updated January 12, 2026, is for ages 5 to 7. It has 22 doors on school days, opened doors change color, and the tasks are drawing challenges, kindness, gratitude sharing, discussions and sing-alongs, each under five minutes; it is an HTML file for whiteboards, tablets and computers. The doors are short because the point is a daily habit, not a lesson.

A French teacher, Celine White of Manche, ran a “24 days of kindness” calendar as a school blog: the pupils proposed it, and each day in December a new post asked readers to complete an act of kindness. The article describing it gives three aims: a daily routine in class, a weekly debate on the effects of kindness, and family activities for the weekend. Two practical points follow. The daily task is paired with a weekly conversation (what did it feel like to do it, what did the other person do), so the task never stands on its own. And a weekend door is a family door, because the class isn’t there.

Good to know The same article says public blogs on that school platform are not listed in search engines, so a reader needs the exact URL to find one, and the comment section was closed to readers. A calendar sent by link works the same way: anyone with the link can open it, so keep pupils’ names and photos out of the doors. The page on photos of children in an advent calendar has the school rules.

12 tasks for a class (doors 1 to 12)

Each is for a school day, takes under ten minutes, and needs nothing bought. The teacher makes the calendar and opens the doors with the class; the maker’s terms say a person who is under age may use the service only with the approval of a parent, guardian or teacher.

1. Greet someone you do not usually sit with. Say good morning by name before the bell.
2. Thank a person who works in the school. The caretaker, the cook, the office; say it in person, or write it on a card that the whole class signs.
3. Leave the book corner tidier than you found it. Five minutes at the end of the day, in pairs.
4. Write one thing you appreciate about a classmate. The teacher assigns the pairs, so nobody is left out, and reads each note before it is passed on.
5. Invite someone into your game at break. Ask a person who is standing alone, and tell the teacher how it went.
6. Read for ten minutes to a younger class. Choose a short story and practice it first.
7. Draw a picture for a pupil who is absent. The class makes one picture together; it is handed over when they come back.
8. Ask three classmates what made them smile today. Listen to the answer; do not reply with your own.
9. Offer to help with something a classmate finds hard. Ask first. If they say no, that is an answer.
10. A gratitude round. Each pupil says one thing they are grateful for, in a sentence; the class listens to every one.
11. Write a thank-you to a person who helped the class this term. The class chooses the person and the teacher reads the card aloud before it goes.
12. End the day with a sing-along dedicated to someone not in the room. The dedication is spoken before the song.

12 tasks for a family (doors 13 to 24)

These are for any household: one task, one day, nothing to buy. On a family calendar the doors are addressed to the parent, who decides how much the child sees and does; a task for a younger child is done beside an adult.

13. Make someone a hot drink without being asked. Put it where they’ll find it.
14. Call a relative you have not spoken to this month. Put the time in the door so it gets done.
15. Write a note and put it in someone’s coat pocket or bag. Three lines, in your own handwriting, for them to find on a cold morning.
16. Do someone else’s chore today, without saying. They’ll find it done.
17. Pick up litter for ten minutes. Take gloves and a bag, and do it together on the way somewhere.
18. Ask a neighbor if they need anything carried or fetched. The offer is the task; there is nothing to buy to make it.
19. Thank someone who serves you by name. The bus driver, the person at the counter, the postal worker, with a word and eye contact.
20. Let someone else choose tonight’s film or music. And do not comment on the choice.
21. At dinner, tell each person one thing they did well this year. One sentence each, specific, no jokes.
22. Message someone who is alone this season. Ask how they are, and name a time you will call.
23. Give away one thing you no longer use. To a neighbor or a friend who would use it, for free.
24. Write down three kind things that happened in December. Read them aloud on the 24th; door 24 has more on how to end a calendar.

How to run it in a class or at home

1. Decide who opens the doors. In a class, the teacher opens the day’s door on the board; at home, a parent opens it at breakfast.
2. Keep the task under ten minutes. The TES calendar keeps each door under five. A kindness task that takes an evening gets skipped.
3. Add a sentence of talk. One question afterwards: what happened, what did they say, what would you do differently. This is the weekly debate in the teachers’ account, shortened.
4. Let the pupils propose doors. Celine White’s calendar started with the pupils’ idea. A class can swap three of the 12 above for its own.
5. Keep weekends for the family. Any door that lands on a Saturday or Sunday goes to a family task from the second list.

In the tool All 24 tasks are text doors in the maker, which takes text, an image, a YouTube video, a GIF or a link as a door. For a class, add a link door to a song for door 12, and an image door of a card the class has made for door 2, with no names or faces. The calendar goes out as one link by WhatsApp or email, and the edit link in your inbox opens it for changes.

Put it in a calendar

The template for a class is built for 22 school-day doors; the 12 class tasks above can be pasted straight in. For a household, start from an empty calendar: Create your calendar, paste door 13 first, and fill the rest on a Sunday evening with the lights on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a kindness advent calendar?

A calendar with one kind act per door instead of a treat. Teachers describe it as a daily classroom routine, a weekly debate on the effects of kindness, and weekend activities for families.

What are good kindness tasks for an advent calendar?

Thank a person who works in the school, write a note for a coat pocket, call a relative, do someone’s chore without saying, give away something you no longer use. Each of the 24 above takes a day and needs nothing bought.

How many doors does a classroom calendar need?

It depends on the term. A published school calendar uses 22 doors, one per school day, with each task under five minutes. The maker has 24 doors; the class template fills 22.

Do the children need an account to open it?

No account is needed to open a calendar sent as a link. The maker’s terms say a user who is under age may use the service only with the approval of a parent, guardian or teacher.

Is it safe to share a class calendar by link?

Anyone with the link can open it, so leave pupils’ names, photos and class lists out of the doors. A public school blog in France worked because its exact URL was needed to find it and its comments were closed.

Can the pupils choose the tasks?

Yes. In the French class, the pupils proposed the calendar. Let them swap doors for their own tasks, and read each one before it goes in.

What do I do when a task falls on a weekend?

Move the class task to the next school day, or give that door to a family task. The teachers’ account sets weekends aside for family activities.

Related Articles

Sources