My husband has been working in Beijing for five months. Our 7-year-old daughter Polly missed him very much. When I told her we would visit her father, she was so excited.

We left for Beijing after Polly finished her exam. She couldn’t wait to tell her father about her good grades. The train was pretty full. Because I did not get the tickets online early, Polly and I were separated. We could not sit together. Polly was nervous about trips and depended on my reading to her. But this time it seemed impossible at all.

When the two passengers who shared my row found their seats, I asked if they could change places with Polly or me. They both refused.

At the same time, a mother and her two children several rows ahead of us also met the same problem. The mother could hold her baby, but her 6-year-old son had to sit with strangers. She was worried about her son. But nobody offered to help her.

At that very moment, I saw a group of teens. One of the teens stood up and said to the mother,   “ Aunt, we can help you. ” He then rearranged their seats. Then there was space for the family to sit together. The mother was thankful to the teens.

Polly was still upset. However, I could do nothing. Suddenly, the passenger next to me, turned around and asked, “ Would you and your daughter like our seats? ” We changed seats. Being together made our trip much better.

From this experience, I do know that kindness is contagious（传染的）, and good deeds cause more good deeds!

Most people agree that the last couple of years have been stressful. Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California, thought her students just might have the magic words needed to bring calm to people in these difficult times. So, she, along with artist Asherah Weiss, worked with students at West Side on a project, PepToc.

The project had two parts —one was the hotline, and the other was creating encouraging posters. The two adults had the same basic question for all the students: “What could you say to help or encourage someone else?”

Students working on the hotline thought of what they would like to say. When they were ready, Ms. Martin recorded each one in English and Spanish. Later, she divided the recordings into the different parts of the telephone hotline. Pressing 1 brings up ideas for people who are “feeling mad, or nervous”. One of the helpful suggestions is “go get a cookie”. Pressing 2 results in “words of encouragement and life advice”. This includes messages like: “The world is a better place with you in it.” And “You are okay!” By pressing 3, you can hear a group of kids saying together: “You can do it! Keep trying, don’t give up!” Pressing 4 brings you the sounds of children giggling and laughing - a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Other students took part in making encouraging posters, which were hung up around the town. Many posters had pieces of paper that people passing by could tear（撕）off and take with them.

Ms. Martin thought the project would only attract interest from people near the school. But the hotline was soon getting hundreds of calls a day - and then, thousands of calls an hour. Now it has been popular with stressed adults, patients in hospitals, older people in homes, and others who just want to hear the happy voices of children.

For us boys and girls，books are not all. We can find time to play at home or at school，Playing is about having fun. But how do we play？It doesn't mean（意味着）watching TV or playing computer games.

In the morning，we can run with our parents to be healthy. We can play sports with friends after school. We can also do what we like after class. For example，we can draw and we can play chess with others. It is also fun to help others.

Playing can make children happy and they can't be bored. It can also help students get on well with others and it is good for them.

Play well and then you can learn well.