40 Acts of Kindness for Lent: A Week-by-Week List for 2027

Forty acts of kindness for Lent means one small, practical act for each of the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday: give something, don’t just give something up. In 2027 that runs from Wednesday, February 10 to Saturday, March 27, with Easter on March 28. Below are 40 acts grouped by week, each week with its own theme, an easier version for every day, and a separate list for kids.

Giving something up is a good practice, and plenty of people pair it with this one. But a list of things you did, ticked off one a day, is easier to look back on at Easter.

The 40 days skip Sundays, which is how the traditional count works: Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday is 46 days, minus the six Sundays. That also gives you a built-in rest day each week to catch up or take stock. If your church counts differently, or you are doing a 40-day run for reasons that have nothing to do with church, the list works the same way.

One rule for the whole season: the easier version counts fully. Forty small ticks beats ten big days and thirty blank ones.

How the 40 days are laid out

The first four days, Ash Wednesday through Saturday, are about clearing space. Then each full week, Monday to Saturday, has a theme that moves outward and then back in:

• Feb 10 to 13: Clearing space (4 acts)
• Week 1, Feb 15 to 20: Home
• Week 2, Feb 22 to 27: Neighbors
• Week 3, Mar 1 to 6: Strangers
• Week 4, Mar 8 to 13: Church and community
• Week 5, Mar 15 to 20: Yourself
• Week 6, Mar 22 to 27 (Holy Week): The people you’ve been avoiding

Each week has an optional Bible reference; skip it if it is not for you. Almost everything here is free, and anything that costs money says so.

Ash Wednesday to Saturday: clearing space

Optional reading: Isaiah 58:6–7, on the kind of fast that feeds people.

1. (Wed Feb 10) Fill one bag to give away. Go through one closet and bag up clothes or coats in good condition for a shelter or donation drop. Easier: Pull out one warm coat you have not worn in a year and put it by the door.

2. (Thu Feb 11) Write your Lent list of people. Write down five names: someone at home, a neighbor, someone who serves you, someone who is struggling, and someone you have been avoiding. You will come back to them. Easier: Write down one name.

3. (Fri Feb 12) Give the cost of one treat. If you are giving up coffee out or takeout, put that amount in a jar every time you skip it, and decide now where it goes at Easter. Costs money, but only what you were already spending. Easier: Label the jar.

4. (Sat Feb 13) Clear one shelf in your pantry for the food bank. Check dates, pick the unopened cans and boxes you will not use, and drop them at a collection bin. Easier: Put three cans in a bag in your car so they go next time you pass a bin.

Week 1 (Feb 15 to 20): home

Optional reading: Ephesians 4:32, on being kind and tenderhearted.

Start with the people who see you at your worst. It is easier to be patient with a stranger than with the person who left the dishes.

5. Do the chore that is usually someone else’s. Unload the dishwasher, take the bins out, or clean the bathroom, without announcing it. Easier: Wipe down the kitchen counter before bed.

6. Put your phone in another room for dinner. Eat one meal with nobody’s phone at the table, yours included. Easier: Turn yours face down and leave it there.

7. Leave a note where someone will find it. One specific line in a lunch bag, on a mirror, or on a pillow: something they did this month that you noticed. Easier: Send it as a text.

8. Ask a real question and listen to the whole answer. “What was the hardest part of your day?” and then no advice unless they ask. Easier: Ask at bedtime or in the car, where it is less formal.

9. Make the call you keep postponing. Call a parent, grandparent, sibling or adult child you have not properly talked to in a while. Easier: Leave a voice message instead of a text.

10. Apologize for one small thing. The snapped answer, the forgotten pickup, the eye roll. Name it and say sorry, without “but.” Easier: Say “I was short with you earlier, sorry.”

Week 2 (Feb 22 to 27): neighbors

Optional reading: Mark 12:31, on loving your neighbor as yourself.

Pull out the neighbor name from your list. If you did not have one, this week is a good time to learn one. There are 30 more ideas in acts of kindness for neighbors.

11. Learn one neighbor’s name. Introduce yourself, get their name, and save it in your phone with their house or unit number. Easier: Say hello to someone you usually pass in silence.

12. Bring their bins in. On collection day, walk their empty cans back up with yours. Easier: Stand them back up if they have blown over.

13. Clear more than your share. Shovel, salt, or sweep past your property line to the edge of theirs. Easier: Clear the patch in front of their mailbox.

14. Check on someone who lives alone. Knock, or text, an older neighbor or anyone on their own, and ask if they need anything from the store this week. Name the day you are going. Easier: Wave and ask how they are doing, and wait for the answer.

15. Return something you borrowed. The dish, the ladder, the book. Bring it back clean, with a thank-you. Easier: Text to say you have it and when you will drop it off.

16. Share what you have extra of. A portion of soup, half a loaf, the spare bag of salt. Label anything edible with what is in it. Easier: Offer it by text and let them say no.

Week 3 (Mar 1 to 6): strangers

Optional reading: Hebrews 13:2, on welcoming strangers.

These are the quick ones, done in passing. The point is noticing people you usually look past.

17. Thank a worker by name. Read the name tag of a cashier, bus driver or cleaner, and use it when you say thank you. Easier: Make eye contact and say thank you properly.

18. Leave a kind review. Write a short review for a local business that names a specific staff member who did a good job. Easier: Tell a manager in person on your way out.

19. Let someone go ahead. At the store, let the person with two items go ahead of your full cart. Easier: Hold the door for the person behind you, even if it means waiting.

20. Pick up litter on one route. Take a bag on your walk and fill it. Wear gloves and skip anything sharp. Easier: Pick up three pieces on your way into work.

21. Return a cart for someone. Offer to take a cart back for a parent wrangling kids or anyone with a cane. Easier: Take back one stray cart from the lot.

22. Make a care bag. Pack socks, a snack bar, water and a handwritten note to keep in the car and hand to someone asking for help. Costs a few dollars. Easier: Put one pair of new socks in your glove box. There is a full packing list in what to put in blessing bags.

Week 4 (Mar 8 to 13): church and community

Optional reading: Galatians 6:2, on carrying each other’s burdens.

If you go to church, this week is for the people there. If you don’t, swap in whatever community you belong to: a school, a club, a team, a group chat.

23. Sign up for one job nobody wants. Stacking chairs, washing coffee cups, the nursery rota, the setup crew. Put your name down for one slot. Easier: Stay ten minutes after and help put things away.

24. Sit next to someone new. Find the person sitting alone, introduce yourself and learn their name. Easier: Say hello and ask how long they have been coming.

25. Thank someone behind the scenes. Write a note to the person who runs the sound, the food pantry, the newsletter or the youth group. Easier: Thank them in person, by name.

26. Visit or call someone who has stopped coming. Ask the pastor or group leader who has been missing, or homebound, and call them. Easier: Send a card that says “we miss seeing you.”

27. Give one hour to a local service. Volunteer a shift at a food bank, soup kitchen or shelter. Most need you to sign up in advance. Easier: Ask what they need most this month and pass it on to your group.

28. Offer a ride. Offer to drive someone without a car to the service, the meeting or the grocery store this week. Easier: Ask if anyone near you needs a ride next time.

Week 5 (Mar 15 to 20): yourself

Optional reading: Mark 6:31, on coming away and resting a while.

This week tends to get skipped, and it is the one that keeps the other five going. These are tasks, not moods.

29. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Set an alarm for bedtime, not just for waking up. Easier: Put your phone on the charger outside the bedroom.

30. Book the appointment you have been putting off. Dentist, doctor, eye test. Make the call. Easier: Write down the number and the day you will call.

31. Take a walk with no headphones. Twenty minutes outside, no podcast, no calls. Easier: Five minutes around the block.

32. Finish one nagging task. The form, the email, the drawer that won’t close. Do the one that keeps showing up on your mind. Easier: Do the first step and stop.

33. Write down three things that went right this week. Specific ones, with names and places. Easier: One thing, one line.

34. Say no to one thing. Turn down one request you would only have said yes to out of guilt. Easier: Ask for a day to think before you answer.

Week 6, Holy Week (Mar 22 to 27): the people you’ve been avoiding

Optional reading: Matthew 5:23–24, on being reconciled before you bring your gift.

The hardest week, on purpose. Go back to the fifth name on your list from February 11. None of these acts require you to fix everything.

35. Reply to the message you have been ignoring. The text or email sitting unanswered for weeks. Answer it. Easier: Reply “Saw this, will get back to you properly by Friday.”

36. Send a message with no agenda. Contact someone you drifted from: “Thought of you this week, hope you’re well.” Nothing else. Easier: Like or reply to one of their posts.

37. Say sorry for your part. Not theirs, yours. One sentence, out loud or in writing. Easier: Write the apology down, even if you do not send it yet.

38. (Holy Thursday, Mar 25) Do a serving job for someone you find difficult. Make their coffee, cover their task, do their share of the washing up. Easier: Hold the door for them and say good morning.

39. (Good Friday, Mar 26) Let go of one grudge on paper. Write down what happened, then throw it away or burn it safely. Easier: Say their name in a prayer or a kind thought.

40. (Holy Saturday, Mar 27) Invite someone to Easter. Invite someone who will be alone to your Easter meal or service. Easier: Text someone who will be alone to say happy Easter, and mean it.

40 acts of kindness for Lent for kids

Kids can do the main list with help, but these are written for them directly, ages about 4 to 11. Use one a day or let them pick from the table.

Home	Friends and school	Out and about	Church or group
Set the table without being asked	Sit with someone who is alone	Say thank you to the bus driver	Help stack chairs
Make your bed and a sibling’s	Share your best markers	Pick up three pieces of litter	Draw a card for someone who is sick
Draw a picture for a grandparent	Ask a new kid to play	Hold the door at the store	Say hello to someone new
Put away someone else’s shoes	Tell a classmate one thing they do well	Put a toy in the donation bag	Help clean up after snack time
Read a book to a younger sibling	Thank the lunch staff by name	Wave to a neighbor	Thank the teacher or leader

Three tips for kids. Let them choose the act most days, because they will follow through on their own choice. Have them draw a cross, a heart or a star on a paper calendar each time, which is the whole reward. And keep anything involving strangers with a parent present. For more, see acts of kindness for kids.

Common mistakes to skip

• Picking 40 big acts. A daily volunteering shift for six weeks is not realistic for most people, and the list collapses by week two. Mix in small ones.
• Treating it as a test. Missing a day is not failing Lent. Use Sunday to catch up, or skip ahead and keep going.
• Making it public. Posting each act online changes who it is for. Keep it between you, the person, and whoever you pray to.
• Spending to feel like it counted. Almost none of this costs money. Attention counts for more than gift cards.
• Forcing reconciliation. If someone on your avoiding list has hurt you or is unsafe for you, kindness can mean a prayer and distance. You do not owe anyone contact.

If you fall behind

Do today’s act and the easier version of one you missed. Don’t try to do three in a day. If you lose a whole week, start the next week fresh; the themes are separate so you can drop in anywhere. Some people find a 40-day run too long and prefer a 30-day kindness challenge at another time of year. That counts too.

Frequently asked questions

When is Lent in 2027?

Lent 2027 begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and its 40 days run to Holy Saturday, March 27. Easter Sunday is March 28, 2027. Sundays are not counted in the 40.

Do I have to be religious to do 40 days of kindness?

No. The structure comes from Lent, but the acts are all practical things anyone can do. Skip the optional readings and treat it as a 40-day kindness challenge that happens to run in late winter.

What can I do for Lent instead of giving something up?

Add one act a day. Give away one bag of clothes, call a lonely relative, volunteer one shift, return one cart. Many people do both: give up one habit and put the time or money it frees toward these acts.

How do I do Lent kindness with a family?

Put the list on the fridge and let a different person read the day’s act each morning. Pick one family act a week, such as a pantry clear-out or a card for a homebound neighbor, and do the rest individually.

Where to go from here

Ash Wednesday is February 10. Before then, write your five names and put a bag by the door for day one. If you want something to do every day in the meantime, the free daily kindness challenge gives you one small act a day, the same for everyone, with a streak, and works well alongside this list during Lent too. For more acts in the same spirit, see kindness and faith ideas.

Get one small act a day

Reading a guide is easy; changing your habits is hard. The free daily kindness challengesends one small act at a time so kindness becomes a practice, not a bookmark.

Start the daily challenge