100 Days of School Project

There are a lot of mothers out there who are wonderfully creative, whose homes are the epitome of good taste and who always have a fun, why-didn't-I-think-of-that? project underway. I know because I read their blogs. So, when I thought of the following idea for Maxwell's 100 days of school project, I felt for a brief moment I had entered the ranks of these esteemed women.

If you have had a child attend kindergarten in the past decade you are probably familar with celebrating 100 days of school. Celebrating the first 100 days of school is a BIG deal if you're a kindergartner. The teachers engage them in all kinds of fun games and activities that have to do with 100. It's an all day party parents can feel good about because it involves math!

Max and each of his classmates were asked to prepare a project to present in class the day of the celebration. On the way to school one morning, Max and I began to brainstorm some ideas. Our conversation continued along the lines of listing things Max could collect. Nothing seemed like the right fit until "bing" the light bulb went on. A couple of weeks prior to this conversation, we had a family home evening lesson about acts of kindness. It was inspired by Pres. Monson's talk in the Oct. 2009 General Conference session where he spoke of the declaration of kind acts he had receieved from children all over the world. In particular he mentioned a large jar full of "warm fuzzies" he had recieved from one primary. Each warm fuzzy represented a kind act that had been performed by one of the children in the primary.

Bingo! That was it! Our family, namely Max, would collect 100 warm fuzzies for 100 acts of kindness and service. You moms out there, I'm telling you this was a hit! Max and Lincoln were eagerly looking for ways they could earn a warm fuzzy. Never have they been more helpul or complained less about picking up their toys or cleaning around the house. It was also rewarding to see and hear how the boys made a conscious effort to look for opportunities to serve others. Here are some of the examples we wrote up for Max's presentation:

• I (Max) helped my brother Lincoln clean up the Light Brite pieces even though I didn’t have to.
• My dad didn’t get mad when someone cut him off in traffic.
• I cleaned up lots of messes to help my mom.
• I fed my sister Eden when she was hungry.
• I tried to be a good example for my friends.
• We brought dinner to a friend’s family who was sick.
• I wrote lots of nice notes to my mom to let her know I love her.
• Eden comforted Lincoln when he was feeling sick.
• Lincoln shared his licorice with Eden without being asked.
• We helped a friend with a ride home from the emergency room and helped her feel better.
• I called my grandma and told her I love her.
• We made birthday cards for a special friend.

I have a friend who's daughter is in the same kindergarten class. Her daughter did a fantastic project. She took 100 photos of her favorite things. My friend then spent hours that night printing, measuring and attaching the photos to a tri-fold for her daughter's presentation. We joked around that by the time our youngest hit kindergarten, we'd be inclined to say, "Here kid, take this piece of paper and draw a 100 circles on it."