8 Activities to Teach Kids to Be More Thankful
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Alpha Omega Family Adventures received a product for review and voluntarily provided an honest review. This does not affect the opinion of the book or the content of the review. All opinions are our own.

This time of year, each year, as we approach Thanksgiving, I am always trying out new ways to teach my children to be truly appreciative for everything we have in our lives and to show gratitude when someone does something for them. Some things we’ve tried have really stuck with them. Other activities haven’t worked as well. I’ve compiled a list of the 8 best activities that have helped my kids. As always, it is a work in progress though!

1.Thankful dinner pumpkin

Our thankful pumpkin just might be one of my favorite thankful activities, even Adler (age 3) likes to participate in this. We go around the table and say one thing we are thankful for that evening. Hearing what each child is thankful for is always so interesting. Sometimes they come up with some very serious answers and sometimes it is silly. This is a very quick and easy activity. And a bonus, I love the way it looks on the table with my other fall decor!

2. Thankful leaves

We’ve tried different version of this idea over the years. I remember doing this basic idea as a kid! My mom would have a clear glass pumpkin on the dining table with leaf cutouts spread around it. Whenever we thought of something we were thankful for, we would write it on the leaf and place it in the pumpkin. On Thanksgiving Day during dinner, we would read them aloud as a family.

I’ve changed that idea a bit and we have a cute little branch tree with lights. I place leaves on a string around the base of the tree and as we go through our day, we write things we are thankful for or things that we appreciate from others on the leaves and place it on the tree. I love to see the tree fill up as we get closer to Thanksgiving. We also read these leaves together over Thanksgiving dinner.

3. Act of kindness for family member

This idea seems so simple, but can be the hardest to do. Some of my boys are so willing to put their brothers or family members first. One of my boys really struggles to willingly help his brothers. The more practice he gets though, the easier it is for him. These acts never need to be huge, but I do require than they are done with a happy heart. Some of the acts they’ve done this year include reading to the littlest guy, picking up someone else’s mess, or encouraging someone to keep trying.

4. Act of service for a neighbor

We have been blessed with some wonderful neighbors. One of the things we like to do is bake cookies for one of our neighbors! One year we raked acorns for a neighbor. There are so many ways to serve our neighbors, it really just depends on kids ages and the needs of our neighbors!

5. Bedtime prayers

My oldest son is in the process of transitioning from cub scouts to boy scouts as an Arrow of Light. One of the requirements for his duty to God badge is to incorporate prayer into each day and pray daily before bed for 30 days. This requirement couldn’t come at a better time! I truly hope he turns this into a regular habit. We’ve had many discussions about what his prayers should include, one of those things is gratitude for everything we have in life. A nightly prayer could be done individually with each child as we put them to bed or gathering together as a family with a family prayer.

6. Reading books about thankfulness

There are so many books about Thanksgiving and Fall. We were sent Thank You Body, Thank You Heart by Jennifer Cohen Harper to review. This was such a sweet book! It is a calming book that reminds us that our bodies have worked very hard all day to let us live our best life, so remember to thank your body for all it does for us. The author’s recommendation is to read this each night as part of a regular routine to teach kid’s self-awareness.

7. Write a thank you letter

This is another idea that is super simple, but sometimes hard to remember! It doesn’t need to be a very detailed, long letter! It could be a sweet note thanking Daddy for playing catch that gets put into a lunch box. Just the act of writing down something they are thankful for reminds kids that they need to be thinking of ways to give thanks daily.

8. Using everyday manners like please and thank you

It is so easy to let this simple gesture slide past, but it is also a simple gesture to show gratitude. Each night at dinner, Daddy reminds the boys (if they haven’t already said it) to thank me for cooking dinner. It is my hope that please and thank you become automatic parts of speech for the boys.

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