Make gratitude fun this Thanksgiving with simple activities that encourage children to notice people, happy moments, everyday comforts, and the little things they appreciate.
Thanksgiving naturally brings up conversations about being thankful, but gratitude can be a pretty big idea for children. Instead of simply asking, "What are you thankful for?" try turning the question into something children can explore, find, photograph, taste, remember, or do.
They might discover they're thankful for the neighbour who always waves, the playground down the street, Saturday morning pancakes, their favourite bedtime story, or the person who makes them laugh the hardest.
With Thanksgiving coming up on October 12, here are 10 playful gratitude activities that go beyond making a list.
Turn gratitude into a scavenger hunt around the house, backyard, or neighbourhood.
Give children prompts such as:
Children can bring back safe objects, point things out, draw them, or take pictures. The answers don't need to be profound. A blanket, bicycle, cereal bowl, swing at the park, or very worn stuffed animal can all count.
Instead of making a traditional thank-you card, let children come up with a small surprise for someone they appreciate. Ask them to choose a person first. Then ask, "What could we do that would make them happy?"
They might decide to leave Grandma a funny voice message, bring Dad his favourite snack, draw a picture for a neighbour, make their sibling's bed, or surprise a teacher with a homemade bookmark.
Give children as much ownership of the plan as possible. Their idea may be completely different from the one an adult would choose.
This one can lead to some surprisingly interesting conversations. Choose an ordinary part of your day and ask what everyone would miss if it suddenly disappeared.
Take turns coming up with scenarios. The game can help children notice ordinary things they enjoy without requiring them to come up with an answer to a big question like, "What are you grateful for?"
Give children a phone or camera with adult supervision and let them photograph things they're happy to have in their lives.
Try prompts such as:
At the end, look through the photos together. You could even choose a few favourites and create a small Thanksgiving photo album or slideshow.
Ask each family member to choose one small thing they really enjoy and share it with someone else. One person might choose their favourite song. Someone else could choose a favourite snack, book, game, joke, or place to walk.
Spend an afternoon trying everyone's choices. Children aren't only thinking about what they enjoy. They're also learning a little more about the people around them and discovering some of the small things that make each person happy.
Host a very unofficial family awards ceremony. Everyone can invent funny or sweet awards for other family members. You might have:
Make paper awards if children want to, or simply announce the winners around the dinner table. Try to make sure everyone receives an award. The sillier and more specific they are, the better.
Give everyone five minutes to find three ordinary things around the house that make their day a little better. Bring everything back to one spot and explain your choices.
Someone might bring their slippers because they keep their feet warm, a favourite mug because they use it every morning, or a book they've read many times.
Children might arrive carrying a stuffed animal, their soccer ball, a favourite cup, or a rock they've kept for reasons nobody else quite understands. Seeing everyone's collection can be a fun reminder that things don't have to be important or expensive to be appreciated.
Ask everyone to think of a family moment they really enjoyed. Then choose one that you can recreate in a simple way.
Maybe everyone remembers a picnic where it unexpectedly started raining. Perhaps there was a movie night when you ate popcorn on the living room floor, a breakfast everyone loved, or an afternoon when you built an enormous blanket fort.
Your recreation doesn't have to be exact. The point is to revisit something your family enjoyed and talk about why everyone remembers it.
Have one person secretly choose someone the family knows and give clues about why they're thankful for that person.
For example:
Everyone else tries to guess who it is. Take turns choosing grandparents, friends, neighbours, teachers, relatives, or people in your household.
Children may end up sharing little things they appreciate about people that they've never said out loud before.
Create a pretend restaurant menu, but instead of food, fill it with little things your family enjoys doing together.
Your menu might include:
Let everyone "order" something from the menu and try to fit a few choices into Thanksgiving weekend. Save the menu for the next time everyone is home and wondering what to do.
Children don't need to sit down and make a long list of everything they're thankful for to begin thinking about gratitude.
It can happen while taking funny family photos, remembering a great day, doing something kind for a sibling, interviewing Grandpa, or realizing just how much they would miss their favourite blanket if it suddenly disappeared.
Their answers don't have to sound especially meaningful either. Being thankful for Mom, a best friend, a warm home, chicken nuggets, the family dog, and a favourite pair of pajamas can all exist on the same list.
This Thanksgiving, choose an activity that sounds like something your family would genuinely enjoy. You may end up talking about gratitude along the way without the activity ever feeling like a lesson.
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