Give Thanks With a Gratitude Jar

By Chelsea Foy

Sep 28, 2021

20 min activity

Creating a gratitude jar is a wonderful and easy way to help your child acknowledge the things that they are thankful for! This gratitude activity for kids helps them identify the things or people that they appreciate every day. Once they’ve identified those things, children can draw a simple picture or write a few words about their gratitude. Add drawings to the gratitude jar over time and your child will start to see a visual representation of all of the things they have to be thankful for. Practicing gratitude has been shown to lead to greater overall happiness and wellbeing in both children and adults!

If the jar gets full, it’s time to take out some of those pictures and memories, just like O the Owl and his Uncle X do with their thank you jar! You and your child can enjoy sharing the memories together as you look back at all you have to be thankful for. This gratitude jar activity is a wonderful way to help your child feel and express their gratitude all year round.

Materials

Jar or container
Paper
Crayons or pens
Optional: stickers

Directions

Begin by talking with your child about the idea of gratitude. You can help them by starting with a simple question like, “What are you thankful for today?” You could also ask them to think about what makes them happy. It may also be helpful to share some of the things that make you feel thankful every day.

Next, find a container to hold all of your child’s drawings. Keep in mind, a gratitude jar doesn’t necessarily have to be a jar! You could use a box, a bowl, or even an envelope.

Once you have chosen a container, ask your child if they would like to decorate the gratitude jar. They could color on it, paint it, add stickers, or just leave it plain. If you’ve chosen a lid that can be cut, you could even cut an opening in the lid so that your child can slip their drawings in easily.

Now that you have a gratitude jar ready, help your child brainstorm more things for which they are thankful. These could be people, memories, special toys, or just about anything! As you talk, your child can draw a picture of each item on a piece of paper. Add your own gratitude drawings or notes as well, to demonstrate gratitude and feel the positive effects for yourself.

If you like, you can help your child as they write a few words on each paper that describe the drawing. This is a wonderful way to practice handwriting and sounding out words. Younger children may need help, in which case you can write for them.

Once each paper is complete, have your child write their name on it and slip it into the gratitude jar. This helps keep track of papers from different family members or siblings, while providing a bit of additional writing practice!

Over time, if you continue this thankfulness activity with your child, they’ll see that the gratitude jar will fill up! When it’s full, help your child take out the memories and enjoy them together. You could also take two or three papers out of the jar at the end of each week during a family meal and have a conversation about each of them. Reviewing all of the good things that they added to the jar can help children continue to notice the things that they are thankful for every day.