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Gratitude isn’t just for Thanksgiving! 🌟 Teaching kids to be thankful all year round helps build happiness, confidence, and emotional intelligence. Discover fun, simple activities to inspire gratitude in your kids—from gratitude jars to thank-you letters. These ideas make it easy to teach this life-changing skill, no matter the season!
Are you looking for fun gratitude activities for kids? Gratitude is an important part of being a kid. When kids learn to be grateful, they are often more kind and generous to others. And while teaching gratitude is traditionally a Thanksgiving activity, it is good to be grateful all year long.
Gratitude is a powerful emotion that can change the way we look at life and how we feel. Studies show that practicing gratitude can lead to increased happiness, optimism, and overall well-being. This is true for both older kids as well as younger children. All ages can learn thankfulness and how to express gratitude.
When you think about what it means to be grateful, you probably don’t have to think very hard. Gratitude comes naturally when things are going well – like when the sun is shining or when someone does something nice for you (or even just says hello!).
But there’s another side of gratitude that isn’t quite as easy – feeling grateful in tough times; like when somebody hurts your feelings or doesn’t give you something that was promised, or even during challenging circumstances like illness or natural disasters. Fortunately, the
As parents, we want our kids to be happy and healthy so it’s important for us to teach them how gratitude works! There are many ways you can do this through simple activities with your kids.
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Why Should You Teach Kids About Gratitude? (Benefits of Gratitude)
At Hess UnAcademy, we believe gratitude is actually a life skill or a success principle for kids. Kids who grow up understanding gratitude grow up to be happier, healthier, and more successful people.
Here are just a few reasons to focus on teaching your kids to be grateful:
• Gratitude is a positive emotion. It can lead to improved health, happiness, and even longevity. Kids who practice expressing gratitude on a regular basis have a higher level of emotional intelligence.
• Kids who practice expressing gratitude on a regular basis have a higher level of emotional intelligence.
• Kids who practice gratitude are often more confident and optimistic children – making them better students!
• Being grateful may help kids cope with difficult emotions like jealousy or loss; providing an opportunity for dialogue about these complex feelings.
• Gratitude leads to increased curiosity and openness, boosting problem-solving skills.
• Children who are grateful have a more positive outlook on life – which affects their mood and energy levels! (Not to mention their mental health.)
How Do You Teach Kids To Be Grateful?
Teaching kids gratitude is easier than you might think. There are many fun activities you can do with your kids that will help them learn to be grateful – even when they don’t want to!
Here are some of our favorite ideas for gratitude actiHere are some of our favorite ideas for gratitude activities. These gratitude exercises are simple ways to give your kids a daily sense of gratitude – and teach them to look for the small things in their life they have to be thankful for.
• Write down what you’re thankful for every night. This is a great activity for kids if they have trouble sleeping because it helps them focus on their blessings rather than things they’re worried about.
• Make a gratitude jar! This is such an easy activity for kids to enjoy and it can be used all year long. All you need is a mason jar and some small slips of paper (or Post-it notes). Label the jar “Gratitude” and write down things you’re thankful for each day.
• Do a gratitude walk. Take your kids on a walk and have them pay attention to all the blessings they see around them – from flowers to trees to birds singing in the sky.
• Write a letter of thanks to someone who has been kind or helpful. Your child can read his/her note out loud or simply give the person a copy.
• Start a gratitude tree and hang slips of paper that list things you are grateful for every day!
• Share one thing you’re grateful for each day with your family in the evening. It can be big or small! Something as simple as “I’m thankful it’s Friday!” is better than nothing at all.
• Keep a gratitude journal – this is an excellent idea if your child struggles with focusing or self-control (plus this activity increases penmanship and handwriting skills as well!)
• Keep a gratitude box where you can collect things you’re grateful for. Write about why these are good things! Make sure to include your kids in this activity if they’re old enough to write.
Gratitude is an emotion that needs to be practiced regularly – it’s not something that just comes naturally to kids! But by teaching your children how to be grateful and finding activities that fit into their interests and world, you can help them develop a deeper appreciation for what they have.
These gratitude activities are, of course, in addition to the fun activities you’ll find listed later on in this article.
Should Gratitude Be Taught All Year Long?
Short answer: Yes.
Gratitude is an emotion that may be difficult to grasp in the thick of winter when kids are stuck inside on cold, dark days. But you can mitigate this if you think outside the box a bit!
Gratitude shouldn’t just be linked with Thanksgiving or Christmas – which is why it’s important to continue these activities for kids for the entire year.
The Best Gratitude Activities For Kids
Whether you're looking for something crafty or more active, there's an activity here for everyone! Here are some ideas of things you could try. Go through this list and pick out a gratitude activity (or two) that you can enjoy with your kids!
With this fun gratitude activity, your kids will learn to think outside themselves. Encourage your kids to become aware of those around them, and to also let those they appreciate knowing that they have been noticed,
This gratitude activity teaches kids some big and important concepts that will positively impact their entire lives. And there's a free printable too!
Teach kids to focus on the good things in their lives every single day with this free gratitude challenge for kids. You can download the free printable or you can go through the list of ideas for enjoying your own gratitude challenge with your kids.
One creative way to practice gratitude in your life is with a gratitude jar. You can either use a glass jar you already have at home or you can print this paper gratitude jar template and draw/write up your very own.
A gratitude journal is another great way to practice gratitude and to become more aware of the good things in our lives. This free gratitude journal for kids includes a page for every day of the month (with writing and drawing spaces) plus several free gratitude-themed coloring pages your kids can enjoy as well.
This gratitude box is a crafty way to focus on gratitude. Kids can make a gratitude box using an old box of tissues. Then every day, fill it with something you're grateful for! Fun and super simple.
This Thankful Pumpkin is fun and easy for all ages, plus it makes a beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece (but while you're working on it and when you're done too!)
If you do end up making a thankful tree (which we do every year!) you can grab some free leaf templates here. We usually stick our leaves to our front door but if you prefer a tree format, this works great!
Crafty families (or just families with a crafty kid or two) can make these Thanksgiving turkeys and then add things you are grateful for onto the tail feathers. Can we say cute?
What Grandma wouldn't love this thankful handprint wreath hanging on their front door? Your kids can make the wreath during the month of November and then send it to Grandma for her to hang up during December. Perfect!
Even the littlest of kids will get a kick out of this gratitude craft! It features a spinning wheel that reveals things your child is grateful for.
Are you not a craty person? That's okay because I'm not either. This gratitude scavenger hunt is fun for families who don't have a single crafty bone in their bodies.
This Thankful Board is another great example of a way to display all of your blessings during the month of November (or all year long).
Play Party Plan has instructions for making (and playing) your own gratitude game. What better way to learn than through play?
This Gratitude ABC's printable is a fun twist on the traditional gratitude journal. Kids must come up with something they are grateful for for every letter of the alphabet!
Have your kids send kindness notes to those they are grateful for this year! What a great way to learn how to express gratitude.
These thank you coloring pages are good for kids who just love to color! Have them hang these colored pages on their wall or give them to a loved one they are grateful for.
And there you have it! Plenty of fun gratitude activities for kids that will have them seeing all the good things in their lives.
More Thanksgiving Resources
For more fun Thanksgiving activities and resources, check out these articles.
Free Thanksgiving Printables
Thanksgiving STEM Activities
Printable Thanksgiving Games
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