A grateful heart is one that’s full of thanks and appreciation! Teaching gratitude to your children and allowing them to express their appreciation is important and beneficial to not only them but also to the people around them. These activities will help your kiddos focus on what gratitude is, how to express it, and how to use it to brighten everyone’s day! Let’s have a look at 55 amazing ways that you can encourage a little more gratitude in your classroom and school community!
1. The Gratitude Game
Everyone loves a fun game, now add some purpose behind it and you have The Gratitude Game. Let your children pick a colored stick and then encourage them to discuss the prompt that goes along with it. This is a great way to start teaching them about expressions of gratitude.
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2. Thankful Tree Display
Making a thankful tree is a great way to build your classroom or the whole school community. Have your kids cut out a bunch of leaves and let them write what they are thankful for before adding it to your tree display! As your students get better at expressing their gratitude, your tree will fill out, and bloom into a beautiful display of emotional intelligence!
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3. Thankful ABC
Thank your way through the entire alphabet! You can pair this ABC gratitude activity with children’s books about gratitude and help children list things they are thankful for from A-Z on a piece of paper. It might help to do this as a class if your kiddies are on the younger side to help them come up with words for some of the trickier letters!
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4. Gratitude Mobile
Engaging your little artists in this craft is sure to spark creativity and expressions of gratitude. Give them some yarn and beads to create their mobile, then let them add paper tags with notes of thanks written on them. This is an excellent exercise that will get them thinking about things and people they are grateful for, and challenges them to display their thoughts in an artistic way.
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5. Gratitude Stones
Painting gratitude stones is a fun way to get crafty by doing something for others. You can encourage your children to pass out these gratitude stones to people they are grateful for in their lives. It’ll be a cute little reminder for the recipients that someone is thankful for all that they do!
Learn More: Craft Your Happiness
6. Gratitude Pumpkins
Fall festivities mean pumpkins! Guide your kiddies to create their own gratitude pumpkins to display what they’re most grateful for. Using strips of paper and a stapler, this cute craft adds a festive fall vibe to your classroom!
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7. Gratitude Leaf Garland
A gratitude garland is easy to create. Simply have your little crafters cut out some paper leaves and let them decorate them however they like. Next, have them write down something they are thankful for on each leaf then string them together. You can encourage your kiddos to discuss things from the garland and explain why they are thankful.
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8. Paper Bag Gratitude Trees
Similar to the gratitude tree display, these paper bag gratitude trees bring a fun 3D element to this idea. Using colored paper for leaves and brown paper bags as the tree, you can encourage a sense of gratitude and have children write things they are thankful for on the leaves, like special people or things in their lives.
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9. Gratitude Journal
Journaling is a great way to encourage positive thinking and make it a habit for your learners. Let them create a gratitude journal and set aside time each day for them to write down what they’re grateful for and why. This is a super simple way to encourage them to begin to develop regular gratitude practice.
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10. Read The Thank You Book by Mo Willems
Children’s picture books are great for showing your little learners what is meant by gratitude. This book by Mo Willems is a great one about a pig who is keen to thank everyone in her life! By reading and discussing your own thoughts on how to be grateful, you’ll also be modeling this concept for them.
Learn More: Third Place Books
11. M&M Game
The thankful M&M game is one that your kids are sure to love! Start by having your kiddies take turns picking an M&M out of the packet. They’ll then need to use the prompt sheet and answer the question that corresponds to the color of the M&M they’ve picked. Not only will it encourage discussion about gratitude but there are also tasty M&Ms to be eaten too!
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12. Gratitude Prompts
If you find it difficult to get a discussion out of your class, you can try using gratitude prompts. This can encourage everyday moments of reflection and discussion about what they’re grateful for and gives them a template for how to express it.
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13. Gratitude Cards
Writing cards is a great way to have your little ones express their gratitude and encourage them to notice the benefits of doing so! Have them write to a family friend, teacher, member of the school staff, or other people who are important in their lives to say thank you!
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14. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
A unique way to explore gratitude with your kiddos is through a scavenger hunt. Provide them with a list of items to find and set them loose collecting, writing down, or snapping pictures of them! For older classes of kids, why not take it a step further and use the data to create a classroom gratitude book or infographic?
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15. Gratitude Graffiti
Give your class ownership of one of your wall displays with this cool idea! Creating a gratitude graffiti wall is an amazing way to publicly display gratitude and inspire words of kindness from your kiddies. Have them write messages on paper that show gratitude for their friends, their family, something that made them smile; anything goes!
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16. Gratitude Collage Board
Inspire your grateful kiddies to express their gratitude through collages by creating their own collage boards. You can have them use regular paper or cardstock to glue words or pictures to represent everyone and everything they’re grateful for in their life!
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17. Thankful Sunflowers
This gratitude flower is a cute craft and makes for an eye-catching classroom display! This one is easy enough to do; just have your students cut out some petals, write down some things they’re grateful for, then glue them onto the paper plate center! This sunflower is perfect for adding a little sunshine to everyone’s day!
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18. Gratitude Jar
Gratitude jars are a super craft project and encourage your kiddos to reflect on their lives! Simply recycle an old glass jar by gluing some decorative leaves around the outside to give it a fall theme, and then it’s ready for your class’ entries! You could add a daily gratitude entry to the jar and celebrate weekly or monthly by reading what everyone is grateful for!
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19. Thankful Hearts
Grateful hearts are perfect crafts for older students and are a little outside the box! Your crafters will enjoy learning how to sew and create fabric hearts! Then, they could gift these hearts to people they are grateful to have in their lives.
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20. Gratitude Yoga
Adding yoga to your routines and curriculum can have many benefits for your students. Not only will your kiddos enjoy the physical movements, but it’ll also be a great time to foster discussions about how to be grateful. This could become part of a daily routine for your class to calm your learners and focus their minds!
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21. Thankful Table
Get everyone involved in making this collaborative masterpiece! Get your kiddos to work in groups and start by covering the table with a large sheet of paper. Then let them go wild, drawing or writing down everything in their lives that they’re grateful for. They’ll get a real kick out of drawing on the table and the end results will foster a super discussion around gratitude.
Learn More: Art Bar Blog
22. Thankful Table Cloth
Making a gratitude quilt or tablecloth is perfect for a class or a family. Add handprints in paint and write what each had is grateful for to add a kind-hearted memento! In school, you could make this a school tradition that starts in Kindergarten and is then added to each year as the class moves through the grades in elementary school. They’ll love seeing it each year!
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23. Thankful Turkey Box
Looking for a Thanksgiving craft? These fun little turkeys can be made from a tissue box and paper and are a super way to get your kiddos thinking about what they’re grateful for this year. Once the box is ready, let them take turns adding slips of paper with things they’re thankful for and you could share all these things on or before Thanksgiving!
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24. Gratitude Suncatcher
Jazz up your windows with these colorful suncatchers! You could use fall colors or spring colors and let your kiddos cut out petal shapes. Next, have them add things they’re thankful for to the paper and make it a tree or a flower!
25. Thankful Turkey Book
These small gratitude books are a great Thanksgiving or fall-themed craft! Let your little ones use recycled materials like old cereal boxes or provide them with brown cardstock that they’ll use to fold into a book. Then, allow them to fill the inside with a bunch of things that they’re thankful for before prompting them to add feathers and googly eyes to complete their turkey craft.
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26. Turkey Coloring Page
This free printable is perfect for the littlest of learners. They’ll practice their number and color recognition skills and even their writing, as there’s a space for them to write what they are thankful for at the bottom! They’ll enjoy displaying their work and sharing it with their families.
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27. Gratitude Gift
When we talk about gratitude, we often name people that we’re grateful for. Take it a step further and show thanks by getting or making that person a thoughtful gift. Remember, you don’t have to spend money to make a considerate gift! Why not have your kiddies craft a special gift of thanks for the janitor who cleans their school every day, or their bus driver?
Learn More: Reader’s Digest
28. Read A Little Thankful Spot
It’s no secret that read-alouds are loved by teachers and children everywhere. One great option is A Little Thankful Spot by Diane Alber. This is part of the Spot series that helps children think about their emotions and the feelings of others. What a perfect way to kick off a conversation about personal thankfulness with your little learners!
Learn More: YouTube
29. Listen to a Gratitude Song
No matter the time of year, you can use this gratitude song to get your children moving and thinking about their own thankfulness. You can use this fun song in class for a brain break or to transition into a conversation about gratitude. No matter how you use it, your kiddos are sure to love it!
Learn More: YouTube
30. Gratitude Buddy
It’s our responsibility as teachers to help our children learn healthy habits, for both their physical and mental health! An easy way to start is with an accountability partner! Encourage your kiddos to find a classmate and plan in time in your weekly routine for them to meet and share their thankfulness with!
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31. Gratitude Walk
Why not combine activities that are good for the soul with those that are good for the body? This activity is great for both young and older children; you can take a walk with your class to talk about their gratitude. Let them share any thoughts or you can ask them to specific questions to prompt them to think about things they are grateful for during the walk.
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32. Share Your Gratitude at the Lunch Table
Mealtimes tend to bring people together, so this is a great time to discuss the concept of gratitude with your kiddos! You can embed this daily practice into a snack or lunchtime and remind your students to be thankful for their food, friends, and adults who love them.
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33. Gratitude and STEM
STEM activities are an excellent way to captivate your kiddos’ attention. You can integrate engineering skills with gratitude and challenge your students to build a gratitude tower out of nothing but paper! Have each of them write what they are thankful for on index cards, and then groups can work together to see who can build the tallest tower!
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34. Gratitude Challenge
If you are looking for a kick-off event that can lead to a strong culture of gratitude in your classroom, then a challenge might be the right fit! There are 10-day, 28-day, and even 90-day challenges available that can help your children feel a sense of gratitude every day. This is a perfect idea for a school-wide event!
Learn More: University Of Rochester
35. Ask Questions
When developing any new habit, it can be helpful to provide questions or sentence starters to support your young learners. Use this series of questions to get you started in developing your own list of questions to ask your kiddos that’ll inspire gratitude on a range of topics; from locations to people and events, or any school subject area.
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36. Gratitude Bingo
We bet your kiddies love the chance to play games, so a classic like BINGO is sure to be a hit! Start by giving your children a pre-created BINGO board with prompts to get them to thank people in their lives. If you want to make this even more personal, you can have children fill in a blank board with their activities!
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37. Support a Charity
Helping others is a great way to help your kiddos understand how to be grateful for what they have. Supporting a charity will help to instill pride in them through helping others and can shift their focus from themselves to others. If you’re not sure where to start, ask your school counselor if there are any local charities that your class can get involved with.
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38. Find a ‘WOW’
All of us could do a better job of paying attention to the world around us. Task your children with finding at least one ‘WOW’ moment each day to help them become aware of their surroundings and all of the good things in their lives. Your kiddos who become good at spotting the ‘WOW’ can work on creating a moment for someone else.
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39. Pay to Play
A lot of your learners probably have access to a variety of toys, technology, and extracurricular activities. To make them understand the value of these items and activities, you can have them contribute to the cost. In school, this won’t be a financial contribution, but rather working to accumulate class points to earn their reward.
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40. Make a Phone Call
One fantastic way to show gratitude is to consider how you could make someone else feel happy! Whether it’s phoning a relative or partnering up with a retirement home, there are lots of opportunities for your kiddos to take some time out of their day to brighten someone else’s. You can support them by covering phone etiquette in class and letting them practice making calls!
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41. Collage the Beauty Around You
When your kids have access to craft materials, they can show their creative thinking in a hundred different ways. However, there are plenty of beautiful items surrounding us that don’t cost anything at all! Take your kiddos outside to find items that they’ll then use to create a beautiful collage craft.
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42. Practice Looking
The Harvard Graduate School of Education understands the importance of teaching gratitude at a young age. Through their Making Caring Common Project, the team has created a template that you can use with your students and show them how to look for happiness all around them. Once they’ve completed it, you can use this graphic organizer to guide class discussions!
Learn More: Making Caring Common Project
43. Gratitude Hot Seat
This activity will give your learners a chance to share their thankfulness with their classmates. Put one child in the ‘hot seat’, and then encourage their peers to take turns sharing why they’re thankful for that classmate. You can give everyone a chance on one special day or spread this practice out throughout the school year.
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44. Catch Children Doing Good
When working with children, it can be easy to identify areas for growth and provide feedback to that end. However, it is just as important for teachers to reinforce what is going well already for them! Take some time each day to look out for chances to catch your students displaying positive behaviors and thank them for it!
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45. Drawing Prompts for Gratitude
Many gratitude practices and strategies might ask your students to share their thoughts in spoken or written forms. However, with this set of prompts, you’ll task them with thinking about their gratitude and then express it in an artistic way. Get out the pencils, paints, or markers, and let them create a masterpiece filled with gratitude!
Learn More: Mindful Art Studio
46. World Gratitude Day
If you are looking for a specific starting point for building gratitude activities into your daily or weekly routine, you can circle September 21st on the school calendar! Each year people around the world use the first day of fall to put happiness and gratitude out into the universe. Why not get your kiddos involved too?
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47. Start your Day with Gratitude
Many of your children probably have an early start on a normal school day, so it can be hard for them to get going! Why not include a gratitude practice along with morning work for a softer start to the day? You can use this early morning time to model a thankful focus for the day and start things off on a positive note for your kids!
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48. Start a Club
The Smile Project is a super organization that has lots of resources to get you started on your gratitude journey. Why not start a SPARK (Strengthening Positivity and Reinforcing Kindness) club for your kiddos? It’s a fantastic way to teach them all about how to improve their communities through acts of service and kindness and help bring a focus to the goal of spreading happiness!
Learn More: The Smile Project
49. Neighborhood Clean-up
If you’re looking for a place for your class to give back and show their gratitude, you usually don’t have to look far. Most school communities will have an area on campus that could use some improvement! Don’t wait for someone else to handle it; have your kiddies take the initiative and give back to their school community!
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50. Gratitude Memory
This is a super easy gratitude game that your kids will love playing. Start by giving your kiddos 20 blank index cards. Have them write ten different items or people they are grateful for on half of the cards and draw a picture of each thing on the remaining cards. Place the cards face down, then when they turn them over and find a pair they’ll share why they’re grateful.
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51. Gratitude Poem
Your older children can be encouraged to do more than just write down what they are grateful for! Encourage them to use this opportunity to write a poem about their thankfulness. Once their poem is complete, it would be a great gift to send home and share with family members.
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