Cultivating Gratitude as a Family

We all know that practicing gratitude is a good thing. But did you know that it also has the power to impact your health? That’s right! Scientists have discovered that people who regularly practice and express gratitude are better at making and keeping friends, have fewer aches and pains, exercise more often, and sleep better and longer. Gratitude improves mental health and can reduce the symptoms of depression, enhances self-esteem, and can actually give you better mental strength, meaning you are more resilient to trauma and hardships. Gratitude is powerful!

And that’s why we love that this time of the year reminds us to flex our gratitude skills! It’s never too early to learn how to be grateful for the things we have and our life, so we’ve put together a few ideas to practice gratitude as a family!

A Gratitude Jar

The great thing about this gratitude practice is it’s a craft to keep those little hands busy! Grab a jar and let your kids decorate it however they want! You can paint it, glue pom-poms, or even just cover your jar in stickers. Then cut a bunch of paper into strips. Keep the jar and paper, and some pens, crayons, or markers on the dinner table or kitchen counter, and every day each person in your family writes down one thing they’re grateful for. We suggest doing this after dinner and before bedtime, so you and your kids have the whole day to really think about the thing they’re most grateful for that day. Once you write down your thing, fold it up and put it in the jar. It will be fun to watch as your jar fills up; in fact, you might feel pretty grateful for all those little slips of paper.

We recommend doing this the week before Thanksgiving and reading the things in your jar before dinner on Thanksgiving day. You can even turn it into a game and try to guess who wrote which thing. We love that this activity involves the family and will create some special holiday memories too.

Gratitude Rock

Okay, we know this one sounds silly, but hear us out. This one is great for kids who love to collect things and always have some treasure in their pockets. Collect a rock. It can be any rock, but the important part is that you really like this rock! Maybe it’s smooth, has some sparkles, or has lots of cool texture; whatever it is, decide that rock represents something you are extra grateful for in your life. Then carry the rock with you! It sounds simple, but the idea is that every time you put your hand in your pocket or find it rolling around your purse or under your books in your backpack, you’ll be reminded of that thing you’re grateful for and take a moment to be thankful.

While this might feel silly, especially to older children, you can always suggest placing their rock in a place they’ll regularly see it. Like a desk or nightstand. Anywhere where it can be a regular reminder to pause and remember the things you’re grateful for.

Gratitude Collage

This one is especially fun with young kids. Bust out all those old magazines, or hit up a local thrift store if you don’t have any on hand, grab the glue and scissors, and have your kids create a collage of things they’re grateful for. So often, advertising is done to convince us we don’t have enough stuff, so letting your kids use those ads to remember and celebrate what they already have is a great way to reclaim those ads.

Once your kiddos have created their gratitude masterpieces, hang them up somewhere you’ll all see them regularly. A craft that also helps us remember to be grateful for what we have? Sign us up!

A Gratitude Walk

As you and your kids have conversations about being grateful, getting outside is a great way to continue those conversations. Take a walk around the neighborhood and look for things you’re all grateful for. Is the sun shining, the sky raining, trees standing, and powerlines being worked on? All of those are big things to be grateful for.

Getting outside your own home will help your kids broaden their perspectives on the things we can be grateful for. In fact, you can make this a regular practice anytime you go out anywhere. You can list things you see while driving, and friends or family’s houses, at the park, or even while running errands. This is a big world full of so many things to be grateful for, and this is a great way to show your kids that.

A Gratitude List

A classic! Sometimes keeping it simple is best and easiest for your family, and that is ok! Plus, there are endless creative ways to make a gratitude list impactful for your whole family. Part of your kid’s weekly “chores” could be turning in a list of things they’re grateful for or making it the regular conversation over breakfast on Saturday.

If those don’t work for your family, maybe have a dry-erase board or corkboard somewhere central where your family members can add their weekly gratitude lists. Even a blank wall in your house with a bunch of post-it notes is a great visual reminder of how grateful you are! And you can keep it going all year long! Each family member can have a color marker or post it assigned to them; everyone has to contribute so many per week. It might be tricky at first, but once you make it a part of your family’s culture, it will come naturally to everyone.

Remember, there’s a reason we say we’re “practicing” gratitude: gratitude takes practice! It’s often hard for our kids and us to see beyond our immediate circumstances, and we’re bombarded with messages of scarcity in the media every day. Don’t feel bad if gratitude doesn’t come naturally to you or your kids. We all have to practice at it. But with practice comes a lot of learning that just might change your and your child’s lives.