Gratitude Journal For Kids - Teaching Children To Be Grateful: I am very very big on practicing mindfulness. As my kids grow, I am more mindful of how I can also teach my kids mindfulness. The concept of the law of attraction. Being more aware of your own thoughts and how your mind is a gateway to happiness and possibilities.
And I believe there is no better way to introduce your child to mindfulness, than teaching them gratitude.
One of the tools I have been using is this Gratitude Journal For Kids.
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Gratitude Journal For Kids
If you are struggling to find ways to connect better with your children and teach them how to be more grateful, this gratitude journal provides an excellent opportunity to start the conversation.
Get kids to think about their day and what they liked.
Help them recognize what they have and what made them feel ‘fun’ ‘loved’ or ‘kind’.
Talk about their day before going to bed. Use it as an opportunity to remember all the good things that happened that day.
And also practice writing at the same time. It’s a win win-win for everyone.
This gratitude journals for kids includes various gratitude practice activities to make it fun and engaging. And it includes various gratitude prompts for kids to keep their engagement and interest every day, instead of the same repetitive questions.
And I find that journals should all come in neutral tone color so that you can focus on thinking and writing.
This journal does exactly that. It’s black and white! It also provides opportunities for kids to color and draw as well and be creative.
So, if you are already reading this, you may already have a strong reason to want to get a gratitude journal for your kids. But if you are new to this, here’s why it would benefit your child and your entire family.
Why is an attitude of gratitude important for kids
There are many benefits to practicing gratitude daily with your kids. Overall, you will see a kid that are more content and can self regulate their emotions better. Few of the benefits include:
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Improve Overall Mood
Having an attitude of gratitude helps children feel positive and a sense of well being. Their overall mood will gear towards positivity, helping them feel more content with themselves and their lives.
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Strengthen Relationships
Practicing gratitude helps kids to form a stronger bond with friends and family. An important social skill for children to learn and become a more emotionally intelligent individual.
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Feel Optimistic About Their Future
Attitude of gratitude helps them see optimism in their future. Children who are more optimistic about their future are more likely to try new things and not be afraid of failures that come their way.
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Enhance Empathy And Reduce Aggression
Practicing gratitude will help children become more empathetic and be able to better control anger. Research has proven that grateful people are more likely to behave in prosocial ways, even when others are not demonstrating a kind act. They are less likely to be triggered by anger.
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Boost Self Esteem
Having high self esteem is an important skill to achieving high performance. Gratitude helps children boost self esteem rather than comparing themselves to others. Kids learn to appreciate other people’s accomplishments as well as theirs.
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Kid Gratitude Journal Prompts
The journal includes the following journal prompts. But aside from the ones included in the gratitude journal, there are other ones you can work with your children to practice gratitude.
Gratitude Journal Prompts For Kids Included In The Journal:
- Write or draw one thing you learned today
- Write or draw something you want to remember about your day
- Write or draw what made you laugh today
- Write or draw friends you played with today and why they are special
- Write or draw a nice thing you did to someone today
- Write or draw something you like about yourself today
- Write or draw something you are good at
- Write or draw things that you are thankful for this season
- Write or draw a kind act you did to someone today
- Write or draw favorite part of today
- Write or draw things that inspires you
- Write or draw something or someone that made you feel loved today
- Write or draw something you accomplished today
- Write or draw things you love about yourself
- Write or draw places you are thankful for
- Write or draw things that make you feel good
- Name someone that helped you today
- I am thankful for these things at school
- I am thankful for these family members
- I am thankful for these friends…
- I am thankful for these food I had this week
Other Ideas:
- Write or draw something that makes you happy.
- Write or draw something you couldn’t live without.
- Write or draw something that makes you smile.
- Write or draw something you love to do.
- Write or draw someone you love.
- Write or draw something you think is fun.
Gratitude Activities For Kids
Thanksgiving seems to be the time of the year when many people start to think about how to be more thankful.
While I like to think about how we can show gratitude around Thanksgiving, I am always on the look out for gratitude activities I can do with my kids all year around.
I’ve also compiled a list of gratitude activities for kids that I like below.
So hope you enjoy!
1. Gratitude Bingo
Play gratitude bingo
2. Thank You Letter
Make thank you cards or write thank you letters to someone
3. Gratitude Jar
Have a family gratitude jar that you fill with memorable events or that make you smile. Read together with your children at the end of the week.
4. Gratitude Tree
Decorate the gratitude trees with thank you leaves. Write what you are thankful for on the leaf and hang on the gratitude tree.
5. Read Books About Being Grateful
Read books about being grateful. Few of my favorites are below.
6. Gratitude Rocks
Decorate the rocks with something you are grateful for and place them around your neighborhood.
7. Thankfulness Chain
Create thankfulness chain with strips of paper. You can add more to the chain as more things are thought of daily.
8. Gratitude Dice
Play gratitude dice game with this template here
9. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Play gratitude scavenger hunt game. It’s a fun activity you can do in a classroom setting or in a homeschool environment.
Share in the comment below if there are other activities you like to do with your kids to promote grateful heart!