Easy ways to teach your kids to practice gratitude

Thanksgiving is upon us! I'm going to share some ways to help your kids celebrate...but before I do that, a reminder:  Avoid the whiplash turnaround from Thanksgiving to Christmas preparation by being ready to go with a meaningful story and activity for your kids! Check out the Christmas Box here-accepting orders only until Nov. 30-boxes ship Dec. 1!

Do you remember a time this year when you felt profoundly thankful? Beyond just the general "I'm so thankful for food and for my family," but a moment when you either felt a rush of relief or a slow realization of God breaking through into your life in a way that you felt like crying with gratitude? Or are you like I was so many years...not really coming up with something beyond the obvious when the 4th Thursday of November rolled around?

What are some easy ways to teach your kids to practice gratitude?

Here are two ways to begin, first immediately this Thursday, (hey, if you are reading this on Monday, you and your kids have 4 days to think of something!) and second, a process that you can continue so you can incorporate gratitude throughout the year.

First, a story. In my family growing up, my mom would place 3 popcorn kernels at each place at our table on Thanksgiving. The idea that pilgrims supposedly rationed corn the first year is actually a myth. Still, these kernels represented to the children around the table how hard the pilgrims' first year of survival was after arriving at the new world. 

We would take turns around the table, one at a time, holding up a kernel and sharing 3 things we were thankful for. The problem for me as I got older was, it was often hard to think on the spur of the moment of anything besides food, family, and shelter. I wanted personally to learn to practice gratitude in more specific ways I saw God's faithfulness through the year.

Enter the journal. Gratitude journals are nothing new, but I found they didn't work for me. I kept writing in my personal journal, then forgetting to write separately in my gratitude journal. Now I just consolidate the two. It's simpler. I write the title of the month in the back page of my regular journal. On this separate page, I jot down the date, then little and big things I'm especially thankful for that happened during that month on that day. I don't judge. The only rule is that they are specific. Instead of writing "family," I write "sweet visit with Dad, Amy, Logan, and Shepherd." or "Getting a special weekend with Em, Sloane, and Brandt." This month, I wrote," Beautiful first snow today!"  When the page is full, I'm done that month. Each month gets one page--the last pages in my journal. The rest of my journal is for all the daily thoughts and prayers. That way I can easily find my thankful highlights from the whole year on Thanksgiving. 

Could you incorporate one of these ideas at your celebration this year? You could put out a family journal and write in it this year or just this week, encouraging kids to write or draw the things they are thankful for. Encourage them to be specific. We are a family that encourages thankfulness! Or you could use the 3 kernels idea for a tangible expression of gratitude for the abundance we are blessed with.

Let me know which one you want to try, or how your family shares thankfulnesses at the table! I'd love to hear about it!

Here are 3 things I thank God for in how He has been faithful to guide us in Storygalorey in 2025.

1. I am thankful for teacher and helper Shirley and Audrey and the beauty and light their lives bring to us

2. I am thankful I got to teach my granddaughter Emery and her friends last summer! 

3. I am thankful to have courage to try new things--a year of Art Club and a story-art box!

Can I sneak one more in? I am so thankful for your encouragement: Thank you, thank you for kind words! Over and over I hear from parents that their kids have fun in Storygalorey, and that classes spur them to keep drawing and keep creating at home. 

Teaching your kids and seeing their creativity, love for God, and love for reading is a joy that blesses us! I thank Him for His faithfulness in this work and for your faithful participation.

I hope your celebration this year is full of reflection and joy--Happy Thanksgiving!

Jennifer

 P.S. If you haven't ordered a story-based art activity to do as a family this December, or a meaningful gift for your creative kids, order your Christmas Box today-it comes with everything you need plus a hardback Christmas book to enjoy together!