A Creative Way to Teach Your Kids Gratitude: Family Gratitude Jar

Mar 15

“Feeling gratitude isn't born in us - it's something we are taught, and in turn, we teach our children.”

— Joyce Brothers

I had so much fun talking with the amazing folks at Macaroni Kid about how and why you should start a gratitude jar with your family.

If you're looking for an inspiring family tradition to teach kids about the spirit of Thanksgiving, and a fun way to share gratitude together as a family—here is a tutorial on how to create a family gratitude jar.

This is a wonderful activity to practice with your family to help shift your family into a more grateful mindset.

SO HOW DO YOU MAKE A FAMILY GRATITUDE JAR?

It certainly doesn't have to be fancy. In fact, Josie's first "gratitude jar" was actually a Star Wars Easter basket that she and her then 4-year-old son added to daily. What's important is not the vessel but the act itself, she said.

Josie has some tips for starting a gratitude jar with your family:

BE CONSISTENT.

Choose a consistent time of day to share gratitude with each other. For Josie's family, making the gratitude jar part of the bedtime routine worked best.

She said other families choose dinnertime as their time to share gratitudes. She likes the idea of leaving a family gratitude jar on the table.

"When you have your jar sitting out in a prominent spot of your home, like your kitchen table, for example, it’s a subtle message to everyone that gratitude is an important foundation of your family and serves as a gentle reminder to always be thankful," she said.

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE GRATEFUL FOR, AND DON’T JUDGE.

Start, of course, by thinking about what you're grateful for. It doesn't have to be something big. It can be whatever you want it to be.

"Don’t judge whatever comes up. Giving gratitude for anything, no matter how silly or small you think it may be, is powerful," Josie says.

WRITE IT DOWN.

Now write it on a slip of a paper. Josie suggests starting with: “I’m thankful for ______ today because…” and fill in the blanks. If your child is too young to write, you can fill out her paper for her or have them draw a picture.

PUT IT IN A CONTAINER.

Put your papers in a jar -- or basket, or whatever is convenient. Using a clear container that you can watch your slips of paper pile up in can be a powerful visual reminder of how much you have to be grateful for.

"Kids love to see their jar getting filled higher and higher each day with their gratitude notes," Josie said. "They also love to reach into the jar and pull out their gratitudes and read them out loud."