This Hamilton teacher uses 17 puppets to teach kids about kindness and acceptance

When COVID-19 forced Ontario schools into lockdown for an extended period in 2020, it took a toll on Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board teacher Vandana Verma. So she decided to do something about it.

Verma — a teacher at Prince of Wales since 2003 — says she's always worked on creating a positive school climate, and in 2013, she came up with the idea for her Just One Wish Kindness Program. 

"I have two super heroes that are in my program —  P.I.N.K. Power and P.I.N.K. Passion —  and I've always thought of them as cartoon characters ... but I thought they would be awesome as puppets," Verma told CBC Hamilton.

"Being home all the time watching talk shows, [I got] the idea of putting them in a talk show and creating different characters that they could communicate with and bring up really important issues … that could help the children learn more about kindness."

P.I.N.K. is the acronym for positive, inspirational, noble, kind.

Verma said she purchased the material and made 17 puppets — all by hand — and convinced friends to do some of the voices. She got another friend to do an original theme song.

She then embarked on producing a puppet talk show — Let's Talk Kindness.

Verma and other teachers now share each episode with their students.

"The episodes have an introduction and they always bring up an important topic … using characters that the children can relate to," she said.

"At the end [of one episode], we talk about the difference between tolerance and acceptance. I really want to bring out meaningful issues so that the children can realize, 'Oh that's connected to kindness and that's connected to kindness.' 

"Kindness is everywhere in our world, and if we all just talk a little bit more about it and bring it out more into the open, we can make a difference," Verma said.

The Let's Talk Kindness talk show is meant for kids from kindergarten to Grade 4, but Verma said there's also a Grade 7 teacher sharing it with her kids.

"One of the students said, 'Well, why do we continue kindness activities, because we've been doing it [a long time] and yet people don't change?'

"That's a great comment, to tell them that yes, it's hard, but we need to continue to be kind because that's the only way we can make the world a better place and teach those people that you're not going to let the negativity or the meanness get me down. I'm going to continue to be kind and I'm going to continue to do the good things that we need to do," Verma said.

"The more conversations people have about kindness, the more they are going to start thinking about it, and the more we can do stuff to actually make it a solid foundation for them."

Verma said her program is available for free, including all the worksheets and lessons. 

"It's about giving educators and parents something that they can use with their children that's meaningful and can help make sustainable, positive change happen," she said.