Gratitude Inspired Activities for Kids

Gratitude and thankfulness are powerful emotions that can impact our lives in meaningful and positive ways. Teaching these emotions to children can be challenging. Gratitude inspired activities and crafts are a great way to introduce and nurture an “attitude of gratitude” in your home this season. Take a peak at this round up of gratitude inspired activities for kids.

Take a Gratitude Walk

In Nature: This is by far one of my favorite gratitude inspired activities for kids. Simply take a walk outside, in your backyard, or at a nature center and talk about all of the the things you are thankful for.

At Home: You can simply take a walk around your house and talk about all of the things you are thankful for. Have your children walk through each room and look for items they can write down. Then, make it a challenge and see if they can find something that starts with each letter of the alphabet to list! This is a great way to bring light to all of the simple but meaningful things in your world you are thankful for.

Make A Family Thankfulness Tree

Creating a family thankfulness tree is something I look forward to every year. It’s a special craft that ends up being a beloved decoration that can be displayed throughout the fall/winter seasons. Here’s how you can make your own tree:

1. Cut out colorful leaves from construction paper.
2. Write your name on one side and something/someone you are thankful for on the other side. If your child is unable to write, have them draw a picture and you can label it.
3. Grab a branch from outside and place it in a vase.
4. Hang your leaves using ribbon, yarn or paperclips.

Thank You Cards

Thank you cards are a wonderful act of gratitude any time of year. Encourage your children to write thank you cards for people in their lives who have done nice things. This can be a family member, friend, teacher, coach or community member (police officer, doctor, delivery person, etc). They can decorate and create the card on their own and hand deliver or practice mailing it to their designated person.

Thankful Placemats

Thankful placemats are a fun item to create as a family and have on display for a family dinner or gathering. Gather your materials and have fun creating!

1. Generic: have your child draw a large heart shape in the middle of a piece of paper. Thanksgiving Themed: have your child trace their hand and create a “turkey” in the middle of a 8″ X 11″ piece of paper.
2. At the top of the paper write “I am thankful for….”
3. Under the heart or turkey shape draw a blank line and have your child fill in what they are thankful.
4. Have your child color or glue yarn on their heart or turkey handprint for some a fun pop of color.

If you are interested in printing and creating your own, Etsy has some great affordable options here: Thankful placemats.

Gather and Read Gratitude Books

Books are a fantastic way to introduce abstract topics to children. There are an abundance of thankfulness books that you can refer to at your local libraries. First, here is a wonderful round up of books to inspire thankfulness from a fellow Lansing Mom: Thankful Books. Additionally, one of my favorite board book options is Five Little Thank Yous by Cindy Jin.

Second, if you are searching for gratitude books to purchase, PaperPie books has a cute “I’m Thankful for” series you can check out here: I’m Thankful book series by PaperPie books, you can check it out here:

If you are looking for more ways to practice gratitude as a family, check out this post: 3 Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude as a Family.