Anti-Bullying Activities and Books That Actually Start the Conversation
Bullying is not a phase. It is not “just kids being kids.” And it is not something that resolves itself if adults look the other way long enough.
It is a serious problem happening every single day in schools, on playgrounds, in lunch lines, and online. And the numbers back that up.
According to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center:
Youth who are victimized by their peers are 2.4 times more likely to report suicidal ideation and 3.3 times more likely to report a suicide attempt than students who are not bullied.
-One out of every four students — 22% — report being bullied during the school year.
-The most common reasons students report being targeted are looks (55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%).
Those are not abstract statistics. Those are kids in our classrooms. Kids we see every single day.
The effects of bullying reach far beyond the moment it happens. They chip away at a child’s sense of safety, their self-worth, and their willingness to show up fully in a learning environment…aka ou classrooms. And because so much of it happens outside of adult view, a lot of it goes unaddressed for longer than it should.
So what can we do?
We can start the conversation early, keep it going, and use every tool available to help children recognize bullying, talk about it, and build the kind of community where kindness is the norm.
Books are one of the most powerful tools we have. And anti-bullying activities that give students a way to process and respond are just as important as the conversation itself.
Why Books Are the Best Starting Point
Books open the dialogue in a way that feels safe.
When a child is watching a character navigate a hard situation, they are not being asked to admit anything about their own life. They are just listening to a story. And somewhere in that story, something connects. They recognize a feeling. They see a choice being made that they have faced too. They realize they are not alone.
That recognition is where the real teaching happens.
Books about bullying give children language for experiences they may not have words for yet. They model what it looks like to speak up, to seek help, to extend kindness even when it is hard. And they give teachers and parents a natural opening to ask: has anything like this ever happened to you? What would you have done?
For all ages, that conversation can make a real difference.
Books About Bullying Worth Adding to Your Shelf
These are some of the most beloved and effective children’s books for teaching anti-bullying concepts. Each one approaches the topic differently, which makes them useful at different moments and for different kids.
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson A boy is convinced his new neighbor is his enemy — until his dad suggests making enemy pie together, with a catch: he has to spend the whole day with his enemy first. What unfolds is a gentle, funny, deeply human story about assumptions, friendship, and what happens when we choose connection over conflict. It is a perfect read-aloud for launching a conversation about how we treat people we do not yet understand.
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill Mean Jean is the Recess Queen and until a new girl named Katie Sue arrives and changes everything, not by fighting back, but by simply being kind. This one is excellent for talking about bystander behavior and the surprising power of one person choosing not to go along with the crowd. Kids who have ever felt pushed around on the playground will feel this one.
Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry Simple, sweet, and surprisingly moving. A stick and a stone become unlikely friends after the stone stands up for the stick when a pinecone is unkind. This is a wonderful choice for younger students and for discussing what it means to be an upstander rather than a bystander. The rhythm and rhyme make it an easy, engaging read aloud, and the message lands for such a small book.
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Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson A girl named Chloe repeatedly ignores and excludes a new student named Maya, and by the time she decides she wants to be kind, it is too late and Maya is gone. It is one of the few children’s books that does not wrap things up neatly, which makes it one of the most honest. It opens incredible conversations about regret, missed chances, and the cost of unkindness even when we never meant to cause harm.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio For upper elementary classrooms, Wonder is in a category of its own. Auggie Pullman enters fifth grade for the first time with a facial difference, and the story follows him and those around him through a year of cruelty, confusion, growth, and ultimately, profound kindness. It is a longer read but worth every minute, and the precept-based framework it introduces makes it a natural fit for classroom discussion and writing all year long.
Moving From the Book to the Activity
Reading about bullying is important. But children also need to do something with what they have learned.
Anti-bullying activities that ask students to reflect, respond, and create help the lessons move from the page into something they own. When a child makes something with their hands that expresses their commitment to kindness, it lands differently than a discussion alone.
The best bullying activities are the ones that:
- Ask students to think about their own role as a target, a bystander, or an upstander
- Give them language and strategies they can actually use
- Connect the concept of kindness to their own daily choices
- Produce something visible that reinforces the message over time
Anti-bullying art projects are especially powerful in this space because they do double duty. They give students a creative outlet for processing heavy emotions, and they create a classroom or hallway display that communicates your community values to everyone who walks by.
The Anti-Bullying WRDZ Craft®
If you are looking for a bullying craft that is meaningful, beautiful, and built to display, the Anti-Bullying WRDZ Craft® is exactly that.
Students write inside oversized block letters, filling them with words, phrases, and ideas connected to kindness, upstander behavior, and what it means to be part of a community that does not tolerate bullying. Every student’s piece is completely their own. Every finished product is something they are proud to see on the wall.
And that wall matters.
When students walk past their own words every day, the message stays alive. It is not a one-day lesson that gets forgotten. It is a visible, lasting reminder of the commitment your classroom made together.
The Bullying WRDZ Craft® is one of the most effective anti-bullying art projects you can do because it combines the reflective thinking of a writing activity with the engagement of a hands-on craft. Students are not filling out a worksheet. They are making something, and that distinction changes everything about how they show up for it.
It works beautifully as a follow-up to any of the books listed above, as a standalone October activity for National Bullying Prevention Month, or any time your classroom needs a reset around kindness and community.
The Simple Act That Goes the Furthest
The research is clear and so is the experience of every teacher who has been in a classroom long enough: teaching children the simple act of kindness, and encouraging them to pass it on, goes a long way.
Not just for the child on the receiving end. For everyone.
Kids who learn early that they have the power to make someone’s day better, to stand up instead of standing by, to choose connection over cruelty, carry that with them. It shapes who they become.
Books start the conversation. Anti-bullying activities keep it going. And a classroom culture built on those conversations is the most powerful thing we can build.
Start where you are. Use what you have. And keep talking about it.
If you’re looking for more ways to build community and kindness into your classroom all year long?
Browse the full WRDZ Craft® collection for activities that combine meaningful writing with beautiful displays your students will love.
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