Random Acts of Kindness Generator

The Random Acts of Kindness Generator picks one to ten kind things to do from a list of 53, each with a sentence or two explaining how to go about it. "Paying for someone's meal", "Giving up your parking spot", "Helping someone with technology": nothing on the list needs money you don't have or a whole weekend. It is for people who want to do something good today and would rather be told what than deliberate about it.

How it works

Enter how many acts you want (1 to 10) and press Generate Acts of Kindness. The list is shuffled and that many acts are shown as cards, each with the act as a title and a short description underneath. There is also a dropdown that lists every act by name; the useful setting is Random, which draws from all 53. Press the button again for a different set.

What is on the list

The 53 acts group roughly like this:

• Small everyday gestures: a genuine smile, a compliment, giving up your seat, holding an umbrella for someone in the rain, helping a stranger with directions or with carrying bags, letting someone have your parking spot.
• For friends, family and colleagues: a handwritten letter, thank-you notes, flowers or a book as a surprise, listening with empathy, encouraging someone's goal or business or art, helping a new colleague settle in, helping a parent, helping a friend move.
• Neighbors and community: baking for neighbors, checking on an elderly neighbor, a neighborhood cleanup, supporting a community garden, supporting local businesses, offering a ride.
• Giving and volunteering: donating blood, clothes or books, donating to a charity or a local shelter, organizing a donation drive, volunteering, supporting a fundraiser or a youth mentorship program.
• Teaching and helping: tutoring, helping a struggling student, helping someone practice a language or learn a skill, helping someone with technology, assisting a person with disabilities, helping a pet in need.

The descriptions are practical rather than preachy. "Surprise a stranger by paying for their meal at a restaurant or coffee shop" tells you exactly what to do; you can decide the where and when.

Ways to use it

• One a day. Generate a single act each morning and do it before the day ends. Most of the list can be done in under an hour.
• Kindness week at school or work. Generate ten, put them on a board, and let people tick them off. The community and volunteering acts work well as team efforts.
• A gentler alternative to dares. If Truth or Dare is getting a bit much, swap in a round where the dare is an act of kindness the player has to do by next week.
• Couples and families. Generate three acts and each pick one to do for the other. The Question Generator for Couples makes a good companion for the conversation afterwards.
• Random Acts of Kindness Day. It falls on February 17 in the US (and is marked in other countries at various dates). Generating a handful of acts the night before is an easy way to take part.

Why small acts count

Studies on prosocial behavior have found that people who do small kind acts for others report a measurable lift in their own mood, and that recipients consistently rate the gesture as mattering more than the giver expected. There is no need to overthink the choice, which is the case for using a randomizer: the act you were handed is as good as the one you would have agonized over, and you are more likely to actually do it. If you want conversation starters to go with it, the Random Question Generator and Would You Rather Generator are nearby, along with all fun, party & decision tools.