Gratitude and Thanks Giving Week Lesson Plan

Did you know being grateful can actually make you happier? This is an area that needs some attention in our house. My children are smart, well behaved, and talented. Unfortunately they are not very grateful for what they have.

They complain a lot and so do I. One of the best ways to teach gratitude is by modeling gratitude. So, that's where I think the problem lies.

With Thanks Giving right around the corner, I plan to spend the week working with my kids to be more thankful. We are going to begin by asking ourselves what it means to be grateful and end with some activities to help us move in that direction.


Day 1: Writing assignment - What does it mean to be grateful?

Day 2: Read a few Thanks Giving Stories -
Writing assignment - Why were the pilgrims thankful?

Day 3: Writing Assignment - Pretend you were a child living in a past civilization. (Greeks, Scythians, Celts, Vikings). What would you be thankful for?

Day 4: Writing Assignment - Make a list of the people who help you. For each one write about how they help you.
I hope they write
doctors
nurses
parents
grandparents
dance teacher
music teacher
friends


Day 5: Writing Assignment - What are you grateful for?

Day 6: Writing Assignment - How can you show gratitude?
Here are some ideas
say thank you
write thank you notes
give compliments
give gifts
spend time with others
help others with their work
give a hug

Day 7: Make a Grateful Turkey
This activity is still in my head, but I'm thinking we will make a 3D turkey and stick in rolled up paper tail feathers. On each of the feathers we will write someone's name and something that we are grateful to that person for. Then we will remove one feather and read what it says at each family meal.

Activities for the future
- Send Thank You Cards
- Fill a window full of sticky notes of thanks
- Keep a Family Gratitude Journal - This would be a notebook kept in a common area where any member of the family could write down things they are thankful for. The new entries will be read at meal times.

- Make Grateful Jars - Make one jar for each person. Fill the jar with small notes about reasons to be thankful for that person. Then read one note each meal time.