With Thanksgiving just a few days away and Christmas and Hanukkah right around the corner, now is the perfect time to teach children what it means to be grateful. There are countless ways to approach the topic of gratitude with children, from simple discussions to games and activities. One of my favorite ways is with an art project called Blessings in a Bag. Here's how to do this fun project at home with your kids or in your next children's yoga class.
1) Give each child a brown paper lunch bag to decorate and some small pieces of construction paper called "blessing cards".
2) Have the children write down something or someone they are thankful to have in their lives on one side of a blessing card, and drew a picture of that blessing on the other side. They can fill out as many blessing cards as they wish.
3) The cards are then put inside the blessing bag. Let the children find a special place to display their bag and pick special times to remove the blessing cards so they can literally count their blessings and remember all that they have to be thankful for. You can have them add more blessing cards daily, or whenever the mood strikes!
It is never too early to start teaching gratitude. If you are doing this with smaller children who are too young to write you can ask them to tell you about the things that are special to them and you write on the cards for them, or have them draw pictures.
Here are some great gratitude books to read with your little ones:
Remember that ANY time of the year is a perfect time for gratitude.
1) Give each child a brown paper lunch bag to decorate and some small pieces of construction paper called "blessing cards".
2) Have the children write down something or someone they are thankful to have in their lives on one side of a blessing card, and drew a picture of that blessing on the other side. They can fill out as many blessing cards as they wish.
3) The cards are then put inside the blessing bag. Let the children find a special place to display their bag and pick special times to remove the blessing cards so they can literally count their blessings and remember all that they have to be thankful for. You can have them add more blessing cards daily, or whenever the mood strikes!
It is never too early to start teaching gratitude. If you are doing this with smaller children who are too young to write you can ask them to tell you about the things that are special to them and you write on the cards for them, or have them draw pictures.
Here are some great gratitude books to read with your little ones:
- The Thankful Book, by Todd Parr.
- Bear Says Thanks, by Karma Wilson.
- The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein.
Remember that ANY time of the year is a perfect time for gratitude.
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