Esther Lauaki
Keilor Downs sisters Lily and Pepper have been spreading some joy during the COVID lockdown with their kindness project.
Lily, who is in grade 5, and Pepper, who is in grade 3, at Monmia Primary School, have spent the past six weeks creating more than 600 pet rocks and delivering them around their neighbourhood.
Mum Kim Shaw said her daughters spent an hour a day hand-painting each “kindness rock” to give it some personality.
“We have been keeping busy in lockdown with lots of art and craft, and I suggested that we create pet rocks,” Ms Shaw said.
“The girls asked if they could make pet rocks for all the neighbours in our street as well.
“I loved this idea but quickly realised it was a great opportunity for them to reach out to more people in the community and share some kindness, keep them occupied with a purposeful project and supplement their remote and flexible learning.”
They created 609 pet rocks before they ran out of rocks to paint.
Ms Shaw said the experience has taught the girls some poignant lessons.
“While they were painting them, we spent the time talking about how they are feeling and how other people might feel while they are unable to see their friends and family,” she said.
“We talked about how important kindness is and what kind of impact it has on people. I used the time to gauge their emotional wellbeing and found this project really helped them.
“We’ve been keeping a log of the girls learning and craft during lockdown, which they used to create a blog about their project.”
The girls deliver the rocks into letter boxes with a note that has a link to their blog so recipients can learn more about the kindness project and leave a message on the blog.
Details: bit.ly/2GDD8VY
Esther Lauaki
