Discuss all the different ways that preschoolers might be able to help someone. Next, have students trace the outline of their hands on construction paper and cut them out with scissors. Ask them to tell you about two instances in which they recently helped someone. Write one of the student's examples on the palm of her left hand-shaped cutout, and her other example on her right hand-shaped cutout. Staple the hands to a bulletin board and read the responses out loud. This will help students understand all of the different ways they can help others around them.
Once again, have students trace their hands on construction paper and cut them out with scissors. Now write each student's name on her hand cutouts. Keep the cutouts in a basket at the front of the room, and every time you see a student being helpful to the teacher or another student, staple her hand up on the board. This is a quiet and non-disruptive way to reinforce positive behavior, and an easy way to encourage kindness among students in the classroom.
Bring in an assortment of magazines, and ask students to search through the pages for pictures in which people are using their hands to help others. Ask them to cut out the pictures they find and glue them to a piece of construction paper. Hang the pictures side by side so students can see all of the ways that they can use their hands to improve the lives of others.
Read students the story of The Little Red Hen. After the story is done, ask them to list all of the animals who didn't help the hen, and why they chose not to. Then ask the students if they think that a few helping hands might have made the hen's job easier. Using red construction paper, have the students trace the outline of their hand, then cut it out with scissors. Have each student glue the hand to the center of a piece of white construction paper, then turn the hand into a rooster by adding eyes and a mouth to the thumb and drawing feet from the palm. Have students think of four ways they can help their parents or caregivers around the house, and write each idea on one of the four remaining fingers.