THANKSGIVING ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE GRATITUDE

The holiday “Thanksgiving” is a time to do just that; give thanks. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on the people, things, and opportunities in your life that you’re thankful for and to encourage others to do the same

Adults are more than welcome to participate, but Thanksgiving activities that promote gratitude are super important for kids.

Teaching kids gratitude will cause them to be more appreciative of the small, everyday things in their lives as they grow older. How cool is that?

So, to kick off these Thanksgiving gratitude activities, we went ahead and created a list of ideas!

Here is what we came up with…

Create a Wall of Gratitude

To create a wall of gratitude all you need to do is get a white board and hang it in a high-traffic location in your home. Have markers handy so your family members and guests can jot down something they are thankful for as they walk by. Before you know it, your wall of gratitude will be full of positive messages!

A wall of gratitude is a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving because it encourages everyone to acknowledge the positive things in their life. No matter how big or small, a wall of gratitude is a way to document those things that just make us happy.

Got an “A” on a test? Put it up there! Enjoyed a nice dinner? Put it up there! The fuller you can get your wall of positive and thankful thoughts, the more people will be inspired to contribute.

Write a Letter to Someone You Appreciate

While we often feel grateful for the things we have, we sometimes forget to tell the people in our lives that we are grateful for them. A letter of gratitude is the perfect way to let someone know that you appreciate them.

Sure, you can condense this down to family. If you want to write a letter to your kiddos to let them know how grateful you are for them, then great! Or, if your kiddos want to write their grandma a letter, that’s awesome too!

While appreciating family is always a positive thing, why limit our scope to only family? Encourage your kids to write letters to professionals that help them out regularly. For example, their teacher, the mail person, the garbage person, or anybody else that provides a service to your family.

Receiving recognition for the impact you have on someone else’s life will make anyone feel good about themselves, so spread the kindness outside of your home as well.

Thanksgiving Show and Tell

I think that all of us have that one thing in life that we are just so thankful for having. This item means more to us than many of the other things we have. For one person it may be a bicycle, while for another it may be a pet.

To give everyone the chance to share their gratitude, hold a Thanksgiving show and tell!

With a Thanksgiving show and tell everyone has the opportunity to present their item while describing what it is and what it means to them.

This activity reminds kids (and adults) that being grateful for the little things in life is important and that they may have more than they realize to be grateful for.

Make a Thanksgiving Scrapbook

What could make you happier than having a big book full of your favorite things? I can’t really think of anything! Creating a Thanksgiving scrapbook is a fun way to have all the things you are grateful for displayed in one place.

A Thanksgiving scrapbook is not only a blast to make, but it is great to look back on when you’re feeling down. There is truly no better way to cheer yourself back up than looking at a compilation of all of the best things in your life!

So, sit down as a family and have a scrapbook session. Print out some pictures, grab some empty scrapbooks to transform, and decorate with some Thanksgiving stickers and phrases to keep things festive.

The Thanksgiving scrapbooks are also a great decoration to display around the holiday for all of your guests to see!