Gratitude Activities for Kids

Teaching Kids to be Grateful

Teaching kiddos to be grateful for what they have in a world where their wants can be met in an instant is hard stuff, you guys!

With October coming to an end and November on the horizon, now is the perfect time to start working on the art of teaching gratitude.

From fun activities to everyday reminders, these gratitude activities for kids are a great way to kick off thankful season!

Action-Based Grateful Activities

While encouraging fun is great, one of the absolute best ways to teach children to be grateful is by encouraging them to act.

Fulfilling action-based appreciation activities that allow children to place themselves in the shoes of someone less fortunate can be an eye-opening experience that shows them just how much they truly have to be grateful for.

So, grab your kiddos and pick out a few of these activities to work through together this November.

Check out these action-based gratitude activities for the whole family!

• Read books about gratitude
• Study Bible verses on being thankful
• Fill out a daily gratitude journal
• Tell someone you appreciate them
• Get in the habit of saying please and thank you
• Compliment someone every day
• Visit a nursing home or elderly family member
• Make cookies for someone grieving or hurt
• Hand out socks and water to the homeless
• Pack a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child
• Give supplies to someone in need
• Supply food to your local food pantry
• Share something you are grateful for at dinner each day

There are seriously so many incredible ways you can teach children to show their appreciation and gratitude by participating in an eye-opening experience of helping someone less fortunate than themselves.

Crafty Grateful Activities for Kids

If you have young children who aren’t quite ready for action-based teaching activities, try leaning on simple gratitude crafts instead!

From creating a thankful tree to making thank you cards.

From creating a simple paper chain throughout the month of November to making and sending out thank you cards to the people you cherish, there are so many awesome ways little ones can begin expressing their gratitude at a young and tender age.

Check out some of my favorite go-to ideas!

• Create a grateful paper chain
• Make thank you cards
• Start a gratitude jar
• Create a thankful tree

While most thankful craft ideas tend to be Thanksgiving-focused, you can easily adapt all of the above ideas to a year-long gratitude activity!

Printable Grateful Activities for Kids

While crafting can be a great start for little ones, it’s incredibly important for older children to stop, think, and reflect on what truly matters.

Try leaning on simplistic printable gratitude activities that do just that.

Check out this fun list of awesome printable gratitude activities for kids provided by Life + Homeschool and other wonderful bloggers!

• I’m so grateful worksheet
• Thankful for worksheets
• Grateful for writing prompts
• Gratitude journal prompts
• Drawing gratitude journal (for littles
• Gratitude journal (for middles)
• Gratitude journal (for bigs)
• Thankful flap book
• Scavenger hunt of Gratitude
• Gratitude Tic-tac-toe
• Cornucopia of thanks
• Gratitude sketchbook
• Kindness calendar
• Grateful dice game
• Gratitude pumpkin

With so many awesome ideas to choose from, you can easily focus on teaching and showing gratitude with your kiddos this fall.

 

Being Grateful Everyday

While working through gratitude activities is a great start, it’s incredibly important to work on the art of being grateful each and every day!

With that said, teaching kids to carry their grateful attitudes forward with them after November ends is no easy task.

It’s easy to get comfortable when things are going our way and in those moments we tend to forget to show gratitude by appreciating what we have and the important people around us.

However, that sunny season of life is not the time to leave our grateful heart behind, it’s the time to reflect and remind ourselves how blessed we truly are.

With that said, finding a way to be grateful during the difficult seasons of life is equally important!

Encourage children to go forward with a grateful attitude by utilizing a gratitude journal or adding gratitude activities to their routine multiple time throughout the coming year.

Love these gratitude activities for kids? Check out these encouraging gratitude quotes to keep the momentum going!

Then, bookmark this post and share it with others today.