5 Thanksgiving Gratitude Activities

Teachers and parents alike spend all year teaching children little ways to show their gratitude, from remembering to say “thank you” to modeling acts of gratitude ourselves for the little ones. Children who are grateful and take the time to show thankfulness end up happier in life and have stronger relationships. They have better social support and are more satisfied with their families, schools, communities, and overall with themselves.  

However, while teaching gratitude should be a year-round job, there’s no better time than Thanksgiving to truly drive the message home. One of the great things about the Thanksgiving season is the number of fun activities you can enjoy with little ones while incorporating handy items such as school name labels.

Crafting Gratitude Notes 

This Thanksgiving, let your children sit down and tell the people in their lives why they’re grateful for them with gratitude notes. You can purchase Thanksgiving cards to use as notes, or you can even let kids craft their own gratitude notes with items such as paper, stickers, and school name labels! With these cards, kids can tell their friends, parents, siblings, and anyone else they’re thankful for why they appreciate having them in their life.

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

If you’ve got older kids or even preteens in the home or classroom, there are still some fun gratitude activities everyone can enjoy. One of the best options is a gratitude scavenger hunt using modern-day technology. Using a smartphone or tablet, kids can spend a few days taking pictures of all the things they’re thankful for. Afterward, they can even spend a little time writing a few words about the photos they’ve taken. 

Create a Thankfulness Tree

This is an excellent option for the home as well as the classroom! Cut out a tree trunk and then, rather than using paper leaves, cut out handprints for all of the kids in various fall colors such as red, yellow, and orange. Use kids labels for school to mark each of the handprints and identify which belongs to each child. Afterward, let everyone write down on the handprints all of the things they can think of they’re grateful for, from their family and friends to their favorite cartoons. 

Write a “Thank You” Poem

Whether or not your child is the next Emily Dickenson or Edgar Allen Poe, writing poems is still a fun activity and a good way for them to show what they’re thankful for. One good option is an acrostic poem in which every line begins with the first letter of the word “THANKS.”

Read Thanksgiving Books and Poems

One of the best things about the Thanksgiving season is there are many amazing books and poems available to help you teach the children in your life of gratitude. Sitting down and reading some of these books and poems is a simple yet effective activity everyone can enjoy.

If you’d like to learn more about some fun activities you can enjoy with your children, or you’d like to buy school labels to help with an activity you have planned, check out everything we have available at Label Daddy today!