Bucket Filler Worksheet, Activities, and Printables for Kindness
I’m so excited to share my new bucket filler worksheet with you! If you’re searching for social-emotional learning activities to add to your class lesson plans this year, you’re going to love this printable craft idea.
Some of the most important skills we can teach our students are kindness and compassion. The world certainly needs more kindness, love, and joy! Teach your preschool and kindergarten students how to spread kindness with bucket filler activities that help them make connections between acts of kindness and that warm fuzzy feeling we get when we help others.
There are lots of great bucket filler books you can read together to get the conversation started. Get ready to embark on a kindness adventure with hands-on bucket filler activities and my printable bucket filler worksheets to help lead the way!
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How To Build a Positive Classroom Environment with Bucket Filler Activities
Creating a bucket-filling classroom learning environment is positive for everyone. You can build this positive environment by encouraging acts of kindness and participating in bucket filler activities with your students. Building this kind of positive classroom environment can start on the very first day, but it’s never too late to begin improving your classroom.
The concept of bucket-filling comes from the idea that everyone is walking around with invisible buckets. When others are kind to us, our buckets fill up. You can fill someone’s bucket with kind words or a small act of kindness.
Alternatively, when people are unkind to you, they dip from the bucket and it can leave us with an empty feeling. We can teach our students to be bucket-fillers rather than emptying the buckets around them. We can also help them to be resilient by learning to put lids on their buckets to prevent “bucket dipping.”
Students can make a pledge to be bucket fillers too. It’s a fun way to bring the concept to life and help everyone stay focused on spreading kindness. Preschool and kindergarten students can recite “I promise to do my best to be a bucket filler every day at home, at school, and everywhere I go.” Then, have fun with bucket filler activities and my printable bucket filler worksheet to put it into action!
My New Printable Bucket Filler Worksheet & Craft
My new printable bucket filler worksheet is an easy no-prep activity you can add to your bucket filling lesson plans this school year. Just print this bucket filler activity and get ready to explore this new kindness concept with your preschool and kindergarten students.
Seeing your students make these adorable bucket filler crafts will fill your own bucket! Plus, it’s a great way to practice fine motor skills like cutting and pasting, following step-by-step instructions, and developing concentration with young children.
Want more bucket filler activities and book ideas to encourage kind acts and positive behavior in your classroom this year? Discover more ways to fill other people’s buckets with the character education and social-emotional learning activities and book suggestions below.
Bucket Filler Books You Can Read Aloud in the Classroom
Reading aloud to children is the absolute best way to help them learn important early literacy skills. It’s critically important to read aloud to preschoolers to help them develop print awareness and increase vocabulary. Reading books aloud to older kids is a great way to encourage them to fall in love with reading and explore new genres too.
Sharing bucket filler books isn’t just a great way to build literacy skills in the classroom though. Bucket filler books like the ones below are also a great resource for encouraging kind behavior.
You can use these books to encourage random acts of kindness and teach your students to help make full buckets for themselves and those around them. The buckets are a simple analogy for understanding social-emotional health that creates an easy way for kids to learn to do kind things instead of negative behaviors.
Fill a Bucket: A Daily Guide to Happiness for Young Children by Carol McCloud is the book that started it all and it’s a great place to begin with your bucket lessons. Then, check out Buddy the Bucket Filler: Daily Choices for Happiness and Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by the same author.
More Hands-On Bucket Filler Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
There are lots of awesome hands-on bucket filler activities you can do in the classroom and at home to encourage your kids to fill a bucket today too. These kindness coloring sheets are one of my favorites.
Or try a few of my gross motor kindness activities for kids. I love these types of hands-on kindness activities because they encourage kids to get up and move around, creating a stronger mind-body connection. Plus, they’re perfect for getting the wiggles out and practicing motor skills.
Want to get your kinesthetic learners on board with bucket filling activities? Try these hands-on bucket filler activities and ideas for kids.
Fill a Bucket
You’ll need a 17 gallon plastic storage bucket and soft plastic ball pit balls. Every time a child completes an act of kindness, says something kind to another person, or other daily acts of love, they can add a ball to the bucket.
When the bucket is full, there’s a reward for everyone. You can have an ice cream party, a game day, or another kind of fun reward you can think of to encourage good behavior and practicing kindness.
Compliment Buckets
Another idea I love is encouraging kids to leave kind notes for other students. You’ll need an over-the-door shoe rack and small metal buckets. I also like to provide writing utensils and cute scraps of paper or note cards to encourage kids to participate.
Each child gets a bucket with their name on it in a specified cubby on the shoe rack. Other classmates, parents, and teachers can leave notes with kind words for kids in their buckets. Getting a sweet note in your bucket is sure to give kids good feelings all day long! It’s a free bucket filler activity they’ll all love participating in this school year.
More Social Skills Lessons for Kids
If you’re looking for more social skills lessons to use in your classroom this year you’ll want to snag these favorites:
Social-Emotional Choices Activities
Do you have a great way to fill your student’s bucket that I didn’t mention? Share your favorite kindness activities and bucket filling ideas in the comment section. I can’t wait to read about all the different ways you’re encouraging daily happiness and discouraging bucket dippers in your classroom this year!
