20 Awesome Gratitude Activities for Kids
Gratitude does not come easy to some kids. That is why parents and teachers always encourage them to thank people who have helped them. People appreciate it when kids thank them. However, you can kick it up a notch by helping kids express their gratitude differently. Right now, you are probably wondering how else they can express their gratitude. Fortunately, we have activities that they can do to show gratitude.
Moreover, the activities will instill a spirit of thankfulness in them. Once the children become continually grateful, there are certain benefits they will enjoy. According to Very Special Tales, being grateful helps them develop resilience, coping skills, and healthy relationships. Having understood the benefits of being grateful, here are 20 gratitude activities that kids can do.
20. Help Them Create a Gratitude Journal
A gratitude journal is a book where children may write the things they are grateful for. You can use any unused exercise book at home as a journal. Some kids will be unable to think of what they are grateful for, so here is where you come in. You can help them come up with ideas by getting them a thanksgiving book. By reading the stories, they will pick some ideas on things to be grateful for.
19. Teach Them to Create a Thank You Note
There is something authentic about expressing your gratitude in writing. According to Emily Post, people tend to find thank you notes more heartwarming than even phone calls. When helping them to create a thank you note, you will only provide them with a template. Once the kids see the template, they will be able to come up with the words to thank a person.
18. Do Thankful Thursday With Your Kids
Thankful Thursday is a special day observed on the fourth Thursday of November to express gratitude. The tradition was inspired by Jon Gordon’s works, a motivational speaker. Rather than celebrate the tradition once per year, you can do it every Thursday with your kid. The aim of the exercise is for the child to write about the person they are thankful for. They can express gratitude to their teachers, classmates, or parents. Ensure you encourage your child to express gratitude to different people each week. They can do this verbally or in writing.
17. Play an A to Z Gratitude Game
This challenge is simple. The child has to list the things they are thankful for, beginning with each letter. You could start from A-Z or Z-A. However, you can switch things up by making them select a random letter. You can do this by creating papers representing each letter and then dropping them in a box. Shake up the box and let the kid choose any paper. For this activity, there are many things they could be grateful for. The kids do not have to limit themselves to being thankful for people. They can also be grateful for a certain food or city.
16. Conduct Family Devotions
The Bible is full of verses that focus on gratitude. You can identify such verses and ask the kids to read the verses before the devotion. During the devotion, you can ask the kids what they have understood about the verses. The verses will encourage the children to be grateful to God and people. The best time for conducting the devotions would be in the morning. During this time, the kids are yet to go to school. The devotion doesn’t have to be long since the child would be late for school. A ten-minute devotion is more than sufficient.
15. Create a Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are generally exciting since they involve a lot of outdoor activities. For this scavenger hunt, you will list questions asking the kids what they are grateful for. Rather than think hard about what they are thankful for, they can get inspiration from the outside. Once out of the house, they will be surrounded by many people or things that can serve as inspiration. This activity is fun if it involves a lot of kids. After the scavenger hunt is complete, you can ask kids to exchange their ideas with each other. By exchanging their responses, they will learn about other things they should be glad to have.
14. Create Gratitude Prompts
This activity is great for children who cannot think of things or people they are grateful for. Usually, the writing prompts serve as a guide for the kids to fill in the gaps. An example of a prompt would be: I am grateful for these three animals. The beauty of the prompts is that you can focus on any topic besides people. It can be hard to conjure up the prompts. In that case, you can google them and choose your preferred ones.
13. Create Gratitude Graffiti
In this activity, you need to identify a huge wall at home or school. The wall is what you will use to pin the things you are grateful for. That means you will need plenty of sticky notes. To start things off, you can write what makes you thankful and stick the notes. The kids will soon follow your lead. Soon, the wall will be full of gratitude notes. As a result, other kids can learn about things they should be grateful for by reading other people’s sticky notes. This activity is also an opportunity for kids to showcase their artistry. For instance, a child may write their notes in cursive or calligraphy.
12. Use a Gratitude Jar
Some people may find the gratitude graffiti a bit messy. Additionally, the school management may want to reserve the wall for memos or important posters. The alternative they can consider is using a gratitude jar. Instead of sticking the notes on the wall, the kids can store them in a jar. You can make this activity fun by asking the kids to write their notes anonymously. After that, you can pull out any random note and ask the students to guess who wrote it. For this activity, you can set a day each week for it.
11. Take Them to Serve in a Soup Kitchen
Some kids will not understand how lucky they are until they work in a soup kitchen. It is not uncommon for kids to complain about being served a particular meal. While they grumble, they forget that others cannot access food. Once you take them to a soup kitchen, they will likely never complain about a dish they don’t like. Additionally, the activity instills the spirit of giving back to society in the kids. When they grow older, some may start NGOs to feed those without food.
10. Make a Gratitude Tree
For this activity, you will need a tree branch, paper tree trunk, and pre-cut leaves. The best place to get the pre-cut leaves would be from Amazon. These leaves are what the kids will use to write what they are thankful for. Some people may find this activity exhausting. Rather than make a tree, you can draw a tree on a piece of paper. If you cannot draw a tree that well, you can ask someone artistic to do that for you.
9. Create a Gratitude Bedtime Routine
In some homes, some families pray before going to bed. If you happen to do this, why not squeeze this activity? Before praying, you can ask the kids to express what they are thankful for by the end of the day. We recommend doing this activity daily. When you do it daily, the kids develop the habit of being grateful. Before they complain about something, they will remember the daily gratitude bedtime routine.
8. Ask Kids to Create Gratitude Stones
This activity is easy, so the kids will not require much assistance. All they have to do is identify some rocks and paint them. Typically, gratitude stones use a painting of a love heart. That means this activity is a chance for the kids to demonstrate their painting skills. Once the kids paint on the stone, they must give it to the person they are grateful for. You can decide whether kids will do this activity daily or once a week. To make this activity more fun, you can ask the kids to count the number of stones they have acquired. If the kid with the highest number of stones is identified, other kids will be inspired to behave better.
7. Help the Kids Create Gratitude Conversation Cubes
In order to make a cube, you must draw its net. According to NCTM, the cube has 11 nets. That means you will select your preferred net. Ask the kids to draw one of its nets on manila paper. After that, ask them to cut out the net. Next, help the kids to fold the net into a cube. Identify questions about gratitude for each face of the cube. Put the students in groups. In groups, one of the kids must roll the cube. The child will then answer the question displayed on the cube’s face. Not only is the activity fun, but it will trigger children to have mature conversations about gratitude.
6. Ask Kids to Write Gratitude Quotes on the Blackboard
In this activity, every kid should write a quote on the board daily. The quote should remain on the board until school is over. There are several ways kids can get gratitude quotes. If they want to challenge themselves, they could think up some quotes. They can also get gratitude quotes by asking their parents or googling them. This activity only works if the teacher leads by example. Once the teacher writes a quote, the kids will understand how to write the quotes.
5. Help the Kids Make Gratitude Cards
The kids can make the cards from manila paper. As the teacher, you will determine the size of the card. After creating the cards, you will encourage the students to write on the cards to whom they are grateful. Also, ask them to make their cards visually pleasing by drawing on them or using decorations. The kids will find making the card easy but not writing a message of gratitude. Tell them they could write about a student, teacher, or relative.
4. Make a Thankful Tablecloth with the Kids
For this activity, you will require a tablecloth, paint, and a marker. Ask each child to paint their entire palm. Once their palm is fully painted, ask them to create handprints on the tablecloth. Ask the children to write what they are grateful for on the handprints. This is an activity that you can do once every year. These tablecloths will serve as memorabilia when the kids grow up. Additionally, the parent can track the growth of their kids through comparing the size of their handprints.
3. Try a Family Gratitude Challenge
In this activity, you can create a challenge that runs for one month. For each day, identify activities that demonstrate gratitude. For instance, you can choose a day where the kids will work in a soup kitchen. As for the following day, you can set a day for them to thank their teachers. You can brainstorm for the activities or look them up online.
2. Take Gratitude Walks
It is not easy for some kids to think about what they are thankful for in a room. By taking walks outside, kids observe a lot of people or things. For instance, if they spot a car on the road, they will be grateful for the car they own.
1. Help Them Create a Gratitude Flower
You can ask the kids to draw a flower on a piece of paper. After that, ask them to cut it out. On the petals, tell them to write about what or who they are thankful for.
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