CLASSROOM SUCCESS
September 2026
The Kindness Captain
simple classroom role that encourages children to notice kindness in others, celebrate positive choices, and help build a caring classroom community.
I’m always looking for ways to make kindness something children actually do, rather than something we just talk about.
That’s how the Kindness Captain started in my classroom.
I chose one child to be our Kindness Captain for the week and gave them a very important job: notice the good things happening around them.
If they saw someone helping a friend, including someone, sharing, comforting someone who was upset, or simply doing something kind, they could give that child a kindness badge.
At first, I thought it would just be a cute classroom responsibility.
But then I started noticing something.
The children were watching each other differently.
Suddenly, I was hearing things like, “Miss Grace, I saw her helping him!” or “That was kind!” They were beginning to recognize the little moments that normally pass unnoticed.
And I loved that the recognition wasn’t always coming from me anymore. It was coming from them.
The Kindness Captain also has a responsibility. At the end of the week, if they’ve taken their role seriously and tried their best, they receive a little recognition too.
It’s still such a simple idea. A badge, a classroom job, and a child paying a little more attention to the people around them.
But sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that stick.
And this one definitely did.
That’s how the Kindness Captain started in my classroom.
I chose one child to be our Kindness Captain for the week and gave them a very important job: notice the good things happening around them.
If they saw someone helping a friend, including someone, sharing, comforting someone who was upset, or simply doing something kind, they could give that child a kindness badge.
At first, I thought it would just be a cute classroom responsibility.
But then I started noticing something.
The children were watching each other differently.
Suddenly, I was hearing things like, “Miss Grace, I saw her helping him!” or “That was kind!” They were beginning to recognize the little moments that normally pass unnoticed.
And I loved that the recognition wasn’t always coming from me anymore. It was coming from them.
The Kindness Captain also has a responsibility. At the end of the week, if they’ve taken their role seriously and tried their best, they receive a little recognition too.
It’s still such a simple idea. A badge, a classroom job, and a child paying a little more attention to the people around them.
But sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that stick.
And this one definitely did.