If you want to inspire your little one to have a grateful heart this November, try this free gratitude activity. Keep reading to download your copy at the end of this post!
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ENCOURAGING GRATITUDE IN PRESCHOOLERS
Many parents and teachers focus on gratitude and appreciation in the fall. It’s important to explicitly teach these skills to our little ones if we want them to grow up appreciating all of the good in the world!
Studies show that people who practice gratitude have greater optimism and positivity, stronger immune systems, and lower rates of depression. And it’s never too early to teach our kids to say thank you and appreciate what they have in life.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, here’s a fun (and free!) gratitude activity you can use with your littles, no matter how young they are. This activity can be done at home or in your early childhood classroom.
Looking for more Thanksgiving activities? Check these out!
I AM THANKFUL FOR ACTIVITY
For this activity, you’ll need to download and print the free “I Am Thankful For” activity cards that are linked at the bottom of this post. You’ll want to make sure to print one for each day of November (and for each member of your family or classroom!) There are two sizes of cards (large and medium) in the download.
Every day in the month of November, help your little one write down one thing they’re thankful for. There are so many different ways you can make this work depending on their age and ability level. You can have your little one:
- dictate their answer to you
- write it using phonetic spelling
- or just draw a picture
Your little one might not understand the concept of gratitude at first. That’s okay! Reading books about being thankful can help spark some ideas. One great book we love is Thankful by Eileen Spinelli. I’ve also listed a few more choices in this post about our favorite Thanksgiving books.
Once your little one does start coming up with their own ideas, let them be creative! Their ideas might be as small as having ice cream after dinner or as big as having a healthy family. No matter what they come up with, these ideas will all help cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Plus the funny ones make great memories, too!
You’ll also want to write down something you’re thankful for each day, too. Let them see you do this! It’s a great way to model gratitude. Plus we know our littles ones are always watching us and want to do what we do!
GRATITUDE JAR
Once your little one has written down what they’re thankful for, place the card in a small jar, box, or container. Tell your little one this is your Gratitude Jar. We use this cute pumpkin glass jar for ours. Whatever you choose, leave it out on a counter, bookshelf, or table, so that you can see it getting filled up everyday!
On or around Thanksgiving (or the last day of November), sit down and read through all of the cards in the Gratitude Jar. You’ll be amazed to see all of the things you’re thankful for written down in one place!
Reading through our thankful cards is one of my favorite days of the year! I love seeing what my family is thankful for (and remembering what I wrote down!) It warms my heart and reminds me how truly lucky I am.
This activity (along with all of our freebies!) can be downloaded from the Free Activity Library. If you’re already a member of our email community, you can click HERE to head to the Free Activity Library, enter your password (it’s on your most current email from me), and download your copy!
If you’d like to join our email community & receive the password as my way of saying THANK YOU for joining, you can click HERE to subscribe. Once you enter your information, the password will be emailed to you within minutes.
Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions that help teach gratitude? I’d love to hear them! Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and share there!
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Happy Learning!
