Thanksgiving Gratitude Activities: 10 of the Best and Most Meaningful

Inside: Help your kids focus on what they’re really grateful for this November with these 10 meaningful Thanksgiving Gratitude Activities your family will love.

Teaching our kids to be grateful and to appreciate the list of things they have in their lives is a year-long endeavor.

Gratitude is not meant to only be taught once a year. For the concept to really sink in, gratitude can’t only be taught in November on thankful turkeys like Pinterest might have us believe.

But, Thanksgiving is a good time of year to kick our gratitude efforts up a notch.

To pause before the craziness of December and really focus on and celebrate what we are thankful for.

To make those cute turkeys and pumpkin projects and thankful trees to list out what we’re grateful for.

Thanksgiving can be a time of reflection when we help our children remember what they’re truly grateful for: both the “big stuff” like family, and friends and our home, and the “little stuff” like their favorite stuffed animal, their must-watch TV show, or chocolate ice cream.

Gratefulness big and small is worth it, even if our kids are mostly grateful for Paw Patrol and trick or treating.

Why we should teach our kids to be grateful:

Research has shown that people who are grateful, people who stop and purposefully take time to be thankful for what they have are happier.

And the same is true for our kids.

And when we talk about being happier, we’re not only talking about I-got-to-watch-Paw-Patrol happy. Being grateful leads to truly being joyful. Because people-and kids- who spend time focusing on being grateful find happiness from within.

True happiness.

Because they know a good thing when they see it and they appreciate it.

Thanksgiving Gratitude Activities:

There is definitely no shortage of adorable and meaningful ways to showcase what we appreciate and are truly grateful for.

Especially for Thanksgiving.

Choose a couple this fall and start some new family traditions:

My family’s favorite way to share what we’re thankful for is to create a Gratitude Pumpkin. Every night in November, we write a few things we’re thankful for on a pumpkin until our whole pumpkin is filled and ready to sit in the middle of our Thanksgiving table. Get the directions for the Gratitude Pumpkin here.

Grab a printable version of the Gratitude Pumpkin here, which is perfect for schools or to keep what you’re children are most grateful for long after the pumpkin rots.

You can also make a Paper Pumpkin from Faithful Little Hands and have your kiddos write what they’re thankful for on each little strip of paper.

Help your kids tell each person you’re grateful for why they’re grateful for them with these printable Gratitude Kindness Notes:

Transform sticks from your yard and paper leaves into this sweet Thankful Tree from Meaningful Mama.

Instead of paper leaves, you can use your kiddo’s hands to create this Thankful Handprint Tree from Fun Handprint Art. I love how they wrote a different thing to be grateful for on each finger!

This Thanksgiving Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt from KC Edventures with Kids is a unique way to get your kids more creative with their thankfulness…and they can document what they’re grateful for on your phone or on a family camera!

Use the photos of what you’re thankful for and create this super cute Thankful Placemat from Meaningful Mama your kids can use year-round to remind them of what really matters.

Create a new family tradition and paint your family’s handprints and what they’re thankful on this Thankful Tablecloth from Your Modern Family. The best part is you can add to it each year and watch your kids’ hands grow.

I love acrostic poems and this “Thanks” Acrostic Poem from School Time Snippets that kids can use to write down what they’re most thankful for is adorable!

We can’t celebrate Thanksgiving without turkeys and these Thankful Turkeys from A Dab of Glue Will Do are super cute! Let your kids fill up their feathers with what they’re grateful for.

And if your kids can figure out what they’re thankful and need a few ideas? Use this Thanksgiving Word Search from Meaningful Mama and have your kids search for and circle what they’re grateful for.