Are you looking for ways to teach your children to spread kindness and compassion to create a positive classroom environment? Some days we all need to be reminded of ways to be kind to “fill” our buckets and the buckets of our friends and not “dip” into one another’s buckets. The fun and engaging activities included below will have all of your students trying to fill as many of their friends’ buckets as possible! So, read on and get ready for a class full of kind, compassionate bucket fillers!
Bucket Filler Books
1. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
Of course, you have to begin with the book that started it all: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? This adorable picture book teaches us all about the invisible bucket that we carry everywhere we go. Paired with colorful illustrations, your kiddos will quickly discover the concept of bucket fillers—things that make everyone happy—and bucket dippers—mean or hurtful things that take away our happiness.
Learn More: YouTube
2. Will You Fill My Bucket? by Carol McCloud
Here’s another remarkable bucket filler book by Carol McCloud. Will You Fill My Bucket unfolds as a story of bucket filling that follows children from countries all around the world— perfectly reminding your kids that no matter how different we may seem, we all have the same needs and desires.
Learn More: YouTube
3. How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath
One of the most popular books for teachers of young kids, this adaptation of McCloud’s best-selling book follows a boy named Felix and depicts how each interaction he has either fills or empties his bucket throughout the day. After a while, Felix realizes that his actions fill or empty others’ buckets as well. Use this book to remind your students that their actions affect not only themselves but others as well!
Learn More: YouTube
Bucket Filler Videos
4. The Bucket Filler Song
This cute song encourages kids to be bucket fillers and not bucket dippers by choosing to be kind and do nice things for others! Use this song as a daily reminder to encourage your students to choose actions that fill everyone’s buckets!
Learn More: YouTube
5. Bucket Filling A-Z
This video is a read-aloud of another of McCloud’s wonderful bucket filler books! The story is read by children, adding cuteness for adults and relatability for your students. It goes over many different acts of kindness, from A for “asking” to help adults to Z for “zero” things that we cannot work through with our friends.
Learn More: YouTube
6. Fill a Bucket Sing-Along
Use this song throughout the school year as a continual reminder to your students to be kind and fill others’ buckets. Your kids will soon know all the words and be excited to sing along. It’s also a great way for them to shake some of their sillies out!
Learn More: YouTube
Bucket Filler Bulletin Board Ideas
7. Hanging Buckets
Here’s a great classroom management tool that encourages positive behavior! Create a bulletin board that uses actual buckets to teach the concept of bucket fillers and bucket dippers. When your students do nice, helpful things, add slips of paper to their buckets that note what they’ve done! Or, turn it into a reward system: once your students have received a certain number of items, like marbles for example, in their buckets, they can turn them in to redeem a prize from the classroom bucket!
Learn More: Lemon Tree Creations
8. Bucket Filler Friday
Adapt this bulletin board idea and have your students write a bucket filler letter to one of their classmates every Friday. Watching your kids write nice letters to their peers will give you the warm fuzzies and fill your teacher bucket, too! We bet that you’ll quickly create a strong classroom community by encouraging this simple act of kindness.
Learn More: Apple for the Teacher
9. Be A Filler; Don’t Dip
Use a bulletin board like the one shown here to reinforce your bucket filler classroom management ideals. Simply list different positive values as daily reminders to all your students about how to make good choices.
Learn More: Pinterest
10. Kindness Snowballs
Here’s a cute bucket filler bulletin board for winter. Get started by creating a wintery scene on your board. Then, give your kids cut-out snowballs for them to write or draw acts of kindness they’ve engaged in. As they work, start a class discussion about how good deeds can often “snowball” to create bigger changes!
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
Bucket Filler Activities
11. How I Will Fill a Bucket Today Writing Activity
If you’re looking for daily bucket filler activities, look no further! Your students can write down how they’ll fill the buckets of their peers every morning to encourage them to be kind and make good decisions all day.
Learn More: Pinterest
12. Kindness Bingo
Encourage specific acts of kindness with these bingo cards. Give each of your kids a bingo card filled with acts of kindness, and see who can fill their card first. We bet that your students will enjoy this chance to acknowledge their good decisions!
Learn More: Morgane Michael
13. Bucket Filling Crowns
Give your little bucket fillers the royal treatment! Help your students cut out and color these crowns, and have them don them as they engage in assorted bucket filling deeds. These will serve as visual reminders to help them keep the imaginary buckets of others in mind all day.
Learn More: Pinterest
14. Bucket Filler Anchor Chart
Center your classroom ethos around bucket-filling by creating an anchor chart together with your pupils. Encourage each of your students to suggest one way to fill others’ buckets. Then, add all their suggestions to your chart. You can also make a bucket dipper anchor chart to illustrate behaviors you don’t want occurring in your classroom.
Learn More: Clearly Kindergarten
15. Bucket Filler Journal
Buying an entire classroom set of these My Bucketfilling Journals might be a little expensive, so you can always purchase one and use some of the prompts in your class. Each journal contains a thirty-day plan for filling buckets- including self-reflection questions that you can ask your kiddos.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
16. I Can Be a Bucket Filler Coloring Page
This bucket filler printable is a hands-on way to have your students think about the ways in which they’re bucket fillers. Have them complete it on a weekly basis to serve as a regular reminder to make positive choices.
Learn More: Coloring Home
17. Bucket Filler Word Search
Teach important vocabulary words and bucket filling attributes at the same time with this bucket filler word search. Have your students work in pairs to search for words that reinforce the idea of being helpful and friendly!
Learn More: Coloring Home
18. Create a Bucket
Try out this bucket filler craft that has your students create their own buckets! Use red Solo cups for the buckets and pipe cleaners for the handles, and then allow your kids to decorate their buckets as they please- using assorted stickers and drawing on a smiley face to bring everything together!
Learn More: Moments A Day
19. Bucket Fillers vs Bucket Spillers
Do your students need a little reminder on bucket fillers versus bucket spillers? Engage them in a refresher lesson during which they can suggest bucket filling and spilling activities which can later be used to create a chart.
Learn More: Lessons for Little Ones
20. Bucket Filler Sticky Notes
Create little bucket filler notes using sticky notes! Create a “bucket” for each student on the board and then invite your kids to add bucket filler stickers into one another’s buckets to acknowledge their classmates’ good behaviors.
Learn More: From Pond
21. Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like
At times, younger children need things broken down into concrete explanations or examples to better understand the meaning behind them. Use a chart like the one above to talk to your students about what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to be a part of a bucket-filling classroom.
Learn More: Crafting Connections
22. Bucket Filler Pledge
Post a bucket filler class pledge and have your students recite it every morning as a daily reminder to make good decisions. You can even have your kids help create their own pledge so that they feel directly involved in the process.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
23. You Fill My Bucket, Valentine
Teach this bucket lesson around Valentine’s Day and have all of your students create bucket-filling Valentines for their classmates! You could use the same idea and simply invite your students to give each other weekly bucket notes–—just by removing the word Valentine!
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
24. A Cute, Daily Reminder
One way to illustrate to your students that they must “water” their relationships with friends is by having them water a plant every day! Paint a little pot and plant a classroom-friendly plant as a visual reminder to all of your students.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
25. Learning About the Lid
The “bucket lid” is a different—but very important—aspect of the bucket filler concept. Teach your students that the actions of others are not their fault, so sometimes they may need to use their lids to protect them from bucket dippers. Use physical representations of buckets with and without lids to guide a class discussion about ways in which your kiddos can act or think differently when confronted with unkind behavior.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
26. Bucket Filler Door Decorating
Have a school-wide bucket filler contest and have each classroom decorate its classroom door. Your students will undoubtedly be excited and engaged, and every class in your school will be a bucket-filling classroom. What more could you ask for!
Learn More: Pinterest
27. Bucket Filler Bookmarks
Gift your students these beautifully crafted bookmarks that not only mark pages but also mark moments of kindness. Each time they pick up their books, they’ll be greeted with a heartwarming reminder to pour goodness into the world, even outside the school walls.
Learn More: First Grade Bloomabilities
28. My Helping Hands
Dive into a heartwarming craft where your students will trace the contours of their hands to create a charming reminder that the ways we act have big effects on others. On each finger, your kiddos can jot down ways they’ve uplifted others; serving as a touching testament to their capacity for kindness.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
29. The Collective Class Bucket
Imagine a classroom where every student contributes to a communal reservoir of love and positivity. Craft a symbolic bucket where your kids can deposit kind words, sketches, or affirmations to create a collective repository of warmth and empathy.
Learn More: Elsa Support
30. Seven-Day Kindness Marathon
Challenge your students to embark on a week-long journey of compassion. A mission of kindness—to others and themselves—is assigned to each day. This is a great way to reinforce the idea that kindness to others is important, but so is kindness to one’s self.
Learn More: Oasis Academy Harpur Mount
31. Pocket-Sized Positivity Cards
Guide your students in crafting tiny notes of encouragement. These pocket-sized affirmation cards can be adorned with uplifting quotes or personal messages. Then, encourage your kids to pass the cards out to friends or leave them in visible places to spread cheer and fill others’ buckets.
Learn More: YouTube
32. The Golden Bucket Filler Awards
Applaud those radiant souls in your class who constantly overflow with kindness. To do so, fill out a certificate “certifying” your worthy students as Bucket Fillers, and present them in a mini ceremony in front of others. Recognizing your kids’ stellar contributions will not only fuel their spirit but also create ripples that will inspire their peers to join the crusade of compassion.
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
33. Heartfelt Storytelling Sessions
Create a safe haven where your students are invited to share tales of kindness- whether they were on the active or receiving end of the good deed. Moments of sharing like this will encourage your kids to reflect on their own experience and give them a chance to acknowledge their classmates’ actions—while also receiving positive reinforcement for their own acts of kindness!
Learn More: Ziplet
34. Jar of Joyful Messages
Transfigure a simple jar into a treasure trove of tenderness. Decorate an empty jar and have your learners brainstorm ways to fill others’ buckets and write them on slips of paper. Then, fill the jar and place it in a prominent spot in your classroom. Each day, challenge one of your kiddos to draw a slip or paper and complete the act of kindness written on it.
Learn More: Start With A Book
35. Kindness Counts Keychains
Help your kids craft keychains that they can use themselves or gift to friends as family members. Encourage them to spell out affirmations or compliments on their keychains, so that these simple gifts can serve as tiny rays of sunshine for someone who may need a little bucket-filling.
Learn More: Coffee and Carpool
36. Bucket Filler Badges of Honor
This is another sweet way to acknowledge the compassionate bucket fillers in your midst. Design badges that are more than mere emblems, but rather declarations of a student’s commitment to warmth and care. Award the badges to your students to acknowledge their kindness—or, help your students to make their own badges that they can use to reward others!
Learn More: YouTube
37. Bucket Filler Sticker Chart
Envision a chart that gives your kids a visual representation of their bucket-filling acts. Work with your students to create a list of things that they can do to fill others’ buckets. Then, add the deeds to a chart—either a large one for the whole class or individual ones for each of your students. As you spot your kids filling others’ buckets, mark a square off with a sticker and award each kiddo when they reach a unique milestone!
Learn More: Krystal Foster
38. The Kindness Cascade Jar
Here’s another way to visually represent acts of kindness in your class. Turn an empty jar into the classroom Kindness Jar. Then, add in a small token for every bucket-filling act that you observe from your students. Every addition is evidence of a heartwarming deed; reflecting the collective conscience of the class.
Learn More: Playground Park Bench
39. Kindness Theater
Give your students scenarios to act out where they have a chance to don the capes of kindness heroes. These role-play activities will arm your kiddies with empathy, understanding, and the courage to stand up for what’s right in diverse situations.
Learn More: Random Acts of Kindness
40. The Lush Kindness Tree
Imagine a tree that blossoms with benevolence. As your kids work to fill others’ buckets, inscribe their kind acts onto leaves. Every leaf adds to the canopy; acting as a testament to the nurturing environment that is your classroom.
Learn More: Ripple Kindness
41. Wordplay with Bucket Filler Scramble
Dive into a playful crossword puzzle of words that are related to bucket filling. This literacy activity is a great reinforcement for spelling and compassion-related lessons!
Learn More: Bucket Fillers 101
42. Kindness Clouds
Help your students make “Kindness Clouds” as simple gifts that salute others’ good deeds. Each of your kids can pick a recipient for their cloud. They’ll then craft a cheery cloud as they consider their friends’ bucket-filling qualities. Then, they can inscribe those qualities on strips of paper to create a colorful reminder of how their friend fills buckets.
Learn More: Happy Hooligans
43. Compliment Circles of Affection
Here’s a fantastic activity to get your day going! Form a compliment circle to teach your kids how to give and receive compliments. Sitting in a ring, your students will take turns showering their peers with genuine compliments; forging bonds and filling hearts.
Learn More: Paige Bessick
44. The Kindness Quilt
Each quilt square, lovingly crafted by a student, symbolizes a unique way to fill someone’s bucket. When pieced together, they form a cozy blanket that will envelop one of your classroom walls in warmth and love and remind your kiddos of their collective effort to increase classroom kindness.
Learn More: Teachers Mag
45. Rock Garden of Radiance
Guide your kids in painting pebbles with positivity. They can inscribe rocks with kind notes and affirmations and leave them outside; turning the schoolyard into a canvas of care. These rocks, with their inspiring messages, are a charming way for your kids to be bucket fillers to people that they may not even know.
Learn More: I Love Painted Rocks
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