Small Kids, Big Kindness

Big Lessons from Little Hands

In Jenks, Oklahoma, a preschool classroom is doing more than learning letters and numbers—it’s learning how to change lives.

A Wish Worth Working For

At The Learning Experience, students have taken on a meaningful mission as part of their “Let’s Grant Wishes” campaign in partnership with Make-A-Wish.

Their goal is simple, but powerful: help grant a wish for a young boy named Oliver, who dreams of visiting the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

For these preschoolers, that mission has become personal.

Turning Play Into Purpose

Throughout the month, students are creating artwork, building crafts, and participating in small fundraising activities—all with the goal of helping someone they’ve never met.

To help them understand what they’re doing, teachers use creative storytelling and characters like Penny Polite and Grace the Greyhound to connect kindness with everyday actions—sharing, helping, and looking out for others.

What might seem like simple classroom activities are actually early lessons in empathy, generosity, and teamwork.

When Lessons Stick

The impact isn’t stopping at the classroom door.

Teachers say parents are noticing changes at home—children being more thoughtful, more helpful, and more aware of others. The idea that they can make someone smile is beginning to shape how they move through their day.

And for the students, the concept is clear: there’s a friend out there who needs joy—and they can help create it.

Something Bigger Than a Fundraiser

This campaign is part of a nationwide effort, with hundreds of locations participating and more than $10 million raised since 2018.

But in this classroom, the numbers take a backseat to something else.

A group of young children learning that kindness isn’t something you wait to grow into—it’s something you practice, right now.