Free Homeschool Printables for Character & Kindness
Free printable activities, worksheets, and charts for teaching kindness, feelings, and character at home, with ready-to-copy content and tips for using them well.
Printables are one of the easiest ways to bring character lessons to life at home. A feelings chart on the fridge, a kindness bingo card on a clipboard, or a calm-down choices card in the reading nook keeps important ideas in front of children long after the lesson ends.
This guide collects free printables for teaching kindness, feelings, and character in your homeschool, explains how to use each one, and includes ready-to-copy content you can turn into your own printables in a few minutes.
Disclosure: This guide is published by Be The Buffalo. Several printables below come from our library, alongside ideas you can make yourself.
How to Get the Most From Printables
Printables work best as part of a lesson, not instead of one.
Talk first, print second.
Introduce the idea with a story or conversation, then use the printable to practice.
Choose active printables.
Sorting, matching, tracking, and planning teach more than coloring alone.
Keep them visible.
Post charts where children will see them during real moments.
Revisit them.
A calm-down plan matters most when you pull it out during a hard moment.
Match the age.
Pictures and drawing for young children, writing and reflection for older ones.
Research on school-based social-emotional learning finds that programs work better when they are sequenced, active, focused on specific skills, and explicit.[1] The same principles help printables become real learning tools at home.
Free Printables From Be The Buffalo
Storm & Sunshine Cards
No signup required
A resilience activity. Storm cards describe challenges, such as “I made a mistake in front of others” or “I didn’t make the team.” Sunshine cards describe good things that can come from them. Children match them on a sorting mat, tell stories about them, or create their own.
Free account, no credit card
The first four weeks include 12 printables, each in three age bands and in English and Spanish:
Growth Mindset Poster
“I can’t do this” becomes “I can’t do this yet,” plus growth mindset affirmations
Brain Power Worksheet
How the brain grows, a weekly challenge tracker, and a reflection page
Bounce Back Journal
A multi-page journal for working through a challenge, from what happened to how I bounced back
Peace Path Steps
A five-step problem-solving poster, cut-out step cards, and practice scenarios
I-Statement Cards
Feeling word cards and “I feel... when... because...” templates
See SEL worksheets for more on choosing and using worksheets well.
Make-Your-Own Printables: Ready-to-Copy Content
Copy any of these into a document, add pictures if you like, and print.
Feelings Chart
Print with simple faces for each word.
Ages 5–7
happy, sad, mad, scared, calm, silly
Ages 7–9
add frustrated, worried, proud, excited, lonely, surprised
Ages 9–11
add disappointed, embarrassed, jealous, nervous, grateful, overwhelmed
For bilingual families, see the English-Spanish feelings list in our bilingual homeschool curriculum guide.
Calm-Down Choices Card
When my feelings get big, I can:
Kindness Bingo
Make a 5×5 grid with these squares:
Hold the door for someone
Say thank you
Help clean up without being asked
Share a toy
Give a compliment
Draw a picture for someone
Help a sibling
Say good morning to a neighbor
Make someone laugh
Let someone go first
Write a thank-you note
Include someone in a game
Help cook or set the table
Feed a pet
Pick up litter
Tell someone you love them
Ask someone how their day was
Read to a younger child
Smile at someone
Say sorry and make it right
Water a plant
Donate a toy
Call a grandparent
Help carry groceries
Free space: your own idea!
Kindness Jar Tracker
Our Family Kindness Jar
Every time we notice a kind act, we add one to the jar.
When we reach ____, we will celebrate by ________________.
Kind acts we noticed this week:
1. ________ 2. ________ 3. ________
See kindness activities.
Gratitude Journal Page
Family Values Poster
In our family, we...
Let children help choose the wording and decorate it.
“I Feel” Sentence Strips
Friendship Skills Checklist
I can...
Problem-Solving Steps
Weekly Character Goal Sheet
Draw three simple faces for children to circle.
Other Free Printables Worth Knowing
Free downloadable kindness lessons for Pre-K through high school from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.[2]
Free research-based practices from UC Berkeley, many easy to turn into printables.[3]
For a full list, see free homeschool character education resources.
Using Printables by Age
Ages 5–7
- Picture-based charts and cards
- Cut-and-sort activities and matching
- Coloring paired with a short conversation
- Read prompts aloud
Ages 7–9
- Short writing prompts with sentence starters
- Bingo cards and trackers
- Simple journals
Ages 9–11
- Longer reflection journals
- Goal-setting sheets
- Student-designed posters and family values charts
What to Avoid
Printing too much.
A few printables used often beat a binder of pages never touched.
Worksheets instead of conversation.
Printables support character lessons; they do not replace them.
Coloring sheets labeled as character lessons.
Coloring a heart is not the same as practicing kindness.
Grading feelings.
There are no wrong answers on a feelings page.
Leaving them in a folder.
Post them, use them, and revisit them.
Final Thoughts
The right printable at the right moment can make a character lesson stick: a calm-down card during a meltdown, a kindness bingo card on a busy week, a feelings chart for a child who cannot find the words. Start with one or two, use them every day, and add more as your children grow.[1][4]
Print less. Use more. Talk first.
References
- [1]
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x - [2]
Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. (2026). Kindness in the Classroom curriculum.
https://randomactsofkindness.org/pre-k-lesson-plans - [3]
Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley. (2026). Greater Good in Education.
https://ggie.berkeley.edu - [4]
Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L. H., et al. (2023). The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions. Child Development, 94(5), 1181-1204.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13968
Get 12 Free Character Printables
Be The Buffalo includes 160 printables across a 40-week character and social-emotional curriculum for K-5, every one in three age bands and in English and Spanish, alongside stories, original songs, and interactive activities. Start with four free weeks, including 12 printables, with no credit card.
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