Teaching Kindness at Banner
Last week at Banner campers celebrated Camp Kindness Week! Camp Kindness Day is an initiative from the American Camp Association. We are so proud of our campers. We saw wonderful acts of kindness throughout the week – on the buses, during activity periods and within their groups. We know that, when they leave Banner, the campers will Be a Force for Good everywhere they go! This is our theme for summer 2021 because we truly believe that Banner campers and staff will impact and change the world in countless positive ways.
Did you know?
In a study of over 200,000 participants, researchers found that people who were kind tended to have higher self-esteem and a strong sense of self-efficacy. Being kind may make us feel better about a whole host of beneficial things including: how we see ourselves as a person, about the meaning of our lives, confirm our self-competence, distract us from our own troubles and stressors, experience less depression, give us a warm-glow feeling, and help us be more socially connected with others.
What can you do?
Happiness researcher, Sean Achor, proved that performing random acts of kindness for two minutes each day for 21 days can actually retrain your brain to be more positive. When our brains are more positive, we are more likely to be creative, intelligent and productive. These attributes can spin into what we perceive as “quality of life” attributes – job success, wealth, healthy relationships, and better health.
Kindness Meters
Each bus had the opportunity to fill up their kindness meters all week. We challenged the campers to do simple things like smiling and saying hello to the other campers, saying please and thank you to the staff and cleaning up their litter before getting off the bus. When the bus reaches 25 acts of kindness, they win a special bus prize.
Kindness Bingo
On Tuesday, campers were challenged with Kindness Bingo. Campers tried to complete five acts of kindness throughout the day like giving a STARFISH award, helping a friend, making someone smile, or listening to their friends. Campers not only earned points for their Spirit Week team, they also received a prize for their BINGO.
Kindness Boards
Campers were able to reflect on times they’ve experience kindness at camp. They either wrote a note or drew a picture and were able to tape it to our Kindness Boards at Bannerama and in the pavilion. It was inspiring to see their reflections as they noticed all the good taking place around them at Banner.
Kindness is contagious; and when it spreads, it creates beauty and happiness. We are looking forward to hearing about how Banner campers spread kindness everywhere they go.
“Nice is undervalued right now. It’s one of the most valuable assets out there.” Mark Cuban