Teach Students to become Turtle Flippers with Kindness

I don’t know about your young students, but some of my little ones do not realize how powerful their impact could be if they choose kindness. They do not understand that small, helpful actions can leave a long-lasting, meaningful impression on others.

I want my students to see that little acts of kindness that show others you care can cause a ripple effect that elicits significant changes in those around them. Students should know that they can make a difference in the lives of others through their actions. I teach my students how to be Turtle Flippers.

Being a Turtle Flipper is awesome.

Here’s how I show students how cool it is to care about others and choose kindness everywhere they go.

Turtle Flippin’ Classroom Counseling Lesson

I love classroom counseling lessons. They are one of my favorite parts of being a school counselor. You get to interact with so many students at once. I get to step into my student’s worlds and interact with them in their daily environment. We can see different sides of the students you are currently working with. I love that you get to elicit change on a school-wide level.

Kindness Lessons

This month’s lesson is all about kindness.

After introducing myself and breaking the ice, I showed students a Youtube video. This video shows students turtles lending other turtles stuck on their backs a helpful flip. Students are informed that once a turtle is on its back, it cannot quickly flip itself back over. Turtles need a turtle friend to help flip them back onto their feet.

I narrate the videos for my students, making the video seem super dramatic. I focus on how the main turtle could have kept walking like the second guy but chose to stay and help despite how much effort it took.

We describe how much work it is for the turtle to help, yet he keeps trying anyway. That turtle chooses kindness at all costs.

Even though it would be easier to give up and leave, the turtle sticks by the upside-down turtle side. He shows compassion and works hard to demonstrate how much he cares.

Here’s another cute video you could show students an example of perseverance and helping even when it’s tough.

I in no way own or am affiliated with these two videos. I simply searched “turtles flipping each other over” on YouTube and found these quick and cute videos of turtles offering each other a helpful flip. If you need to waste some time and want to see some adorable videos, I highly suggest you search for the same.

Turtle Flipper Challenge

I then explain to students that, just like the upside-down turtle in the videos, we all need a helpful “flip” once in a while.

The turtles in the videos helped out a friend in need. When it came down to it, they flipped the turtle.

I then challenged students to think about if they would do the same. Would they offer a “helpful flip” to someone who needed it? How can they “flip the turtle” in their daily lives? How could they help someone in need?

It gets a person thinking.

Turtle Flip Situation Cards

Then I encourage students to think about how they would respond with kindness to everyday situations they frequently encounter from a different angle. I do this by playing the Flip the Turtle Game!

I place all of the situation cards face down on the table. One at a time, students come up and pick a card. Depending on the grade level, they/I read the scenario aloud and then answer the “how could you help” question.

The situation cards make students think of various scenarios and how they could choose kindness in each scenario. Students answer questions about scenarios such as:

• Someone spills their crayons all over the floor. What could you do to help?
• You see him steal something from the teacher’s desk. What could you do to help the situation?
• You see someone left the water running in the bathroom. What could you do to help the situation?
• A classmate is crying. They seem upset. How could you help the situation?
• You find a spider in the hallway. What could you do about this?
• Someone steals a classmate’s food during lunch. How could you help the situation?

After the student answers the “how could you help the situation question, ” we discuss other ways to respond as a class. We talk about how we could be turtle flippers and respond to each situation with kindness, empathy, and compassion.

These days, too many people stand by and let negative things happen. I want my students to stand up and lend a helping hand when another human needs it. I think challenging my student to be turtle flippers will help with that.

Let’s Chat

How do you teach your little ones to offer a helping hand and choose kindness? Comment below or DM me on Instagram or Facebook.

Teach your students how to be turtle flippers, people who have empathy and show kindness to others, with the turtle flip cards found on TeachersPayTeachers.

Check out how I teach students the difference between friendly/respectful and unfriendly/disrespectful behaviors and actions. It’s one of my all-time favorite lessons to teach for classroom counseling lessons.

You might also like my free kindness letter download or my random acts of kindness day school-wide activity.

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Take your first step to teaching your students to be kind and helpful with these turtle-flippin’ situation cards.