Help your children experience that larger kind of gratitude with these simple activities.
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The holiday season is just hiding around the corner. I want my girls to truly understand that there are...
Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give. ― Poet Edwin Arlington Robinson
I also want them to know that "giving" doesn't necessarily have to mean gifts, but rather that we can give with our words, actions, and through affection, too. Many of the activities below are focused specifically around Thanksgiving, but others you can implement all-year-round. Below are a few of my favorite shares from some of the collaborative Pinterest boards I participate on: Growing Creative Kids & Lifetime Love of Learning. However, I wanted to start with one idea in particular that has really caught my attention...
Take a moment to go read Why We Need Novembers from The House of Hendrix.
*Don't worry. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait...
I just adore this idea. It focuses on gratitude every day and then the annual tradition it leads to on Thanksgiving, well ... I thought it was the bee's knees.
Now, if you're a regular reader here, you know I adore our family's Christmas advent calendar. I am always searching for ways to take the holiday advent calendar beyond chocolate. I just loved the simplicity of Allison's idea above.
In fact, I loved it so much that I bought myself an adorable Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar today on Pottery Barn.
If you're not looking for a monogrammed calendar, check out this cute Thanksgiving countdown on Amazon. The price is a lot more reasonable!
While I was shopping around, I also found these adorable chair decorations. If you're not interested in hanging an advent calendar, this could also be a sweet way to collection "I am thankful notes" from the family to share.
These chair back decorations are reasonably priced, but you could easily have the kids MAKE festive envelopes to attach to their chairs instead. Have your child decorate a cereal box with a handprint turkey and attach it to the chair!
More Ideas for Teaching Gratitude to KIDS:
A Tree of Gratitude
My girls LOVE painting on themselves. This project is AWESOME.
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Montessori Gratitude Jar for Year-Round Gratitude
What a lovely year-round tradition that comes together at Thanksgiving.
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A Thankful Heart: Gratitude Activity
Give "a heart" to a friend or family member when they make you happy. A simple activity + printable for kids.
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Wall of Thankfulness
Create newspaper leaves and share what you're most thankful for... what a lovely tradition.
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Gratitude Turkeys
Check out this adorable turkey chocolate bar wrapper project + free printable!
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5 Simple Steps to Help Your Child Start a Gratitude Journal
Even if your child is too little to write, you could create a drawing gratitude journal. Love this.
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Showing Gratitude in Your Home
Simple Post-it trick for sharing gratitude with your kids and appreciating the mess of childhood.
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21 Days of Gratitude
A wonderful collection of bloggers all sharing great activities...
Pin it for later | Check it out
This week's featured ideas...
ADDITIONAL INSPIRATION
Looking for an ongoing resource? Follow Growing Creative Kids, which is a collaborative board on Pinterest where parents, teachers, and bloggers come together to share unique kids' projects.
What are you thankful for today? Let's chat in the comments.
P.S. Looking to show a little gratitude with a handmade gift this holiday season?
Click here to check out last week's Kids' DIY Handmade Gifts round-up.
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