Family Gratitude Challenge

Looking for something fun and meaningful to do with your family over the Thanksgiving Break. Why not participate in a 7-Day Family Gratitude Challenge?

Day 1: Create a Gratitude Jar: Place a jar in a central location in your house with some scrap pieces of paper and a pen next to it. When your children think of something they are grateful for, have them write it on a piece of paper and put it in the jar. At a set interval, empty the jar and read all of your thankful thoughts together as a family.

Day 2: Write Thank You Cards: We all have people in our lives who have been consistently there for us, and although we have said thank you, there is nothing like a heartfelt, handwritten card arriving in their mailbox to warm their hearts. Maybe there is someone that you have meant to thank and haven’t gotten to it yet — make it a priority this week. If nobody comes to mind, don’t forget about your mail carrier, local firefighters and police, your local coffee shop owner, your yoga teacher, your local farmer, and on and on.

Day 3: Dinner Time Gratitude: During family time, share with each other one thing you are grateful for that day. If your little ones aren’t talking yet, they will observe and absorb the lesson, which is a great learning experience for them. This is also a yearly Thanksgiving tradition at my in-laws’ home: Before eating, everybody shares the top event he or she is grateful for that year — sometimes the food gets a little cold, but it’s so worth it!

Day 4: Make a Gratitude Collage: If you're feeling crafty, try making a gratitude collage with your children. Grab some crayons, paper, glue, photos and magazine cut outs and have your children arrange items on a piece of paper. Talk about what items they chose and why they are grateful for them.

Day 5: Make a Gratitude Tree: Grab a few fallen twigs and arrange them in a jar. You can use some sand or rocks to help stabilize them. Have your children cut out some leaf-shaped pieces of paper, punch a hole in one end, and attach a small loop of string. Keep the leaves in a jar beside the tree along with a pen or crayon. Have your children write something they are grateful for on a leaf and hang it on a branch. You can write on multiple leaves at once, or slowly build your tree, writing on one gratitude leaf each day.

Day 6: Donate: Spend a day gathering toys, clothes, books, etc...around the house, box them up, and donate them to a local charity or shelter.

Day 7: Go to the library and check out a book about gratitude.