"Children learn best by example. When children see expressions of gratitude and giving, they are more likely to become giving adults." This is the idea behind the Kindness Journal Project at Creative Discovery Museum. The Kindness Journal Project will give families an opportunity to share not only their own stories of kindness, but those of others as well.
The Kindness Journal Project is a collaborative experiment for children and adults to record acts of kindness and pass the journal along to a friend or stranger. Children and families can draw or write about an act of kindness someone has done for them or that they have demonstrated to someone else. The Kindness Journal Project was inspired by the Book of Lovingkindness, a community journal created by local book artist Nora Bernhardt.
For this project, Ms. Bernhardt and the Chattanooga Arts Collaborative handmade 100 journals that will be distributed to various agencies, schools, and family-friendly locations around Chattanooga. The journals will be passed from friends to strangers and then returned to Creative Discovery Museum once they are filled. Journals will also be available at the Hands on Helping Tables, a part of Creative Discovery Museum’s Helping Hands exhibit at Creative Discovery Museum from Nov. 17-Jan. 8, 2013. Helping Hands provides children with the opportunity to learn how to give their time, talent, and treasure to help others.
”We are excited about this new project. Collaborating with Nora Bernhardt and the Chattanooga Arts Collaborative to create a community-wide dialogue about kindness and giving seems like the perfect way to spread the goals of the Helping Hands exhibit,” said Shannon Johnson, Exhibits Manager for Creative Discovery Museum. “I look forward to seeing all 100 journals return to Creative Discovery Museum.”
For more information about the Kindness Journal Project, please visit www.cdmfun.org.