Bethel Studio Teaches Kids Kindness Through Art

At Kind Works studio in Bethel, Connecticut, children gather after school to learn a skill many say is disappearing: genuine kindness.

Executive Director Cody Foss stands by a whiteboard reading "ripple effect of kindness" as he teaches kids the difference between sympathy and empathy. "Sympathy is when you feel bad for someone," he tells the group. "Empathy is when you can actually feel what they're feeling."

The studio teaches through action. Children create artwork for hospitals, municipalities, and community organizations while learning how their efforts help real people. They craft worry stones for people with anxiety, paint tiles for murals, and make windchimes tagged with messages asking finders to pass kindness forward.

Eleven-year-old Guillermo Lopez from Danbury discovered something unexpected when he showed his mother the worry stone he made. "She was proud of me and amazed, because I don't really like doing stuff and then sharing it with other people," he said. "And when she saw how good I did it and all the details and everything, she was proud of me."

The mission feels urgent. Pew Research Center found many Americans report people have become increasingly rude since the COVID-19 pandemic. Research from the U.S. Surgeon General's Office in 2023 revealed that communities with stronger social connections tend to show more empathy.

Sixteen-year-old mentor Kaitlin Goh from Newtown sees the studio as an antidote to toxic social media, which experts link to anxiety and anti-social behavior in young people. She watches younger children model empathy for each other daily. "I think they try to help each other be better," she said. "And I know all the mentors try to be role models for the younger kids."

The Ripple Effect

Volunteer Theresa Kelly explains how the studio's windchimes carry kindness beyond the workshop walls. Each one includes a tag inviting strangers who find them to either keep spreading kindness or treasure the gift themselves. "If you see one hanging somewhere in the wild, it's yours," she said.

The young artists at Kind Works prove that empathy isn't just taught through words but through hands making something beautiful for someone else.