Activity 1: (10 minutes) WHAT IS GRATITUDE?

Review the Pyramid of Happiness poster. Review the fourth and fifth level of the pyramid and perform that action (strike a superhero pose and star-jump with arms and legs spread out wide). Make the connection of how being grateful leads to a happier and healthier life. This makes us the best version of ourselves! Remind students about the actions associated with each level of the pyramid.

Read Feeling Thankful by Shelly Rottner & Sheila Kelly or watch the read-aloud video by Ms. Eliza’s Story Corner. Have a discussion:

• What were some of the things mentioned in the book to be grateful for?
• What does gratitude mean to you?
• What are you grateful for?
• How can you show your gratitude for people and/or things?

Activity 2: (10 minutes) BEING THANKFUL

Tell students that gratitude is another word for being thankful. Watch the Kid President video. As a class, list things that you are grateful for. Try to make sure everyone has a chance to share something. Write the children’s ideas onto strips of colored paper and staple them together in a chain. Hang the chain in the classroom and add more things to the chain each day. See how long you can make the chain and remind students that the chain helps us remember that there are lots of things to be grateful for.

Activity 3: (15 minutes) THANK YOU CARDS

Use the Thank You Card Template and have the children draw a picture and dictate thank you notes to helpers in your school (i.e., principal, administrative assistant, specials teachers, librarian, custodian, cafeteria worker, etc.). Learn the following song and sing it as you deliver the thank you cards.

Thank You very Much (sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus)
_______________________’s class says “Thank you very much”
“Thank you very much”, “Thank you very much”
_______________________’s class says “Thank you very much”
For ___________________________ every day.

Encourage the children to come up with verses for other helpers in their world.

Activity 4: (10 minutes) AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Gratitude is often a matter of attitude. Sometimes it can be hard to find things to be grateful for when things aren’t going our way. It’s okay to feel sad, disappointed, jealous, or angry, but having an attitude of gratitude can help us feel better. Share the following scenarios and talk about how we can use gratitude to turn a bad experience into something we can be grateful for. Have the children turn a somersault or spin in a circle to turn each scenario around before suggesting reasons or opportunities to be grateful in each scenario. When we can find things to be grateful for, it can help us be happier.

• You wanted to wear your favorite shoes today, but they are too wet and dirty.
• Your grownup served broccoli for dinner, and you don’t like broccoli.
• You wanted to play in the home center, but there were already too many kids playing there.
• You wanted to go outside to play, but it is raining.
• You wanted to stay home and play, but your grownup says you have to go with them to the store.
• Your friend got the toy you wanted for their birthday.
• You tripped and broke the clay sculpture you made at school.
• It’s time for bed, but you don’t want to stop playing.
• Your favorite t-shirt is in the laundry, so you can’t wear it today.

Activity 5: (10 minutes) GRATITUDE JOURNAL

Gratitude is more than just thinking about what we’re grateful for. Learning to be grateful takes 4 steps:

• Notice – What are you grateful for?
• Think – Why do you feel grateful for this?
• Feel – How do you feel when you are grateful?
• Do – What can you do to show gratitude?

Help the children practice these steps by talking about things they are grateful for. Use each of the steps in the discussion. Give each child a copy of the 4 steps to Gratitude page. Have them illustrate a picture of something they are grateful for, and then dictate their answers about the think, feel, do portions of the page. Share the students’ journal pages with the class.

An alternative to this activity is to create a book that has a copy of the 4 Steps to Gratitude page for each child. After discussing gratitude in the classroom, send the gratitude book home with one child with a note asking each family to fill out one of the pages together. Send the class gratitude book home with another child the following day. Once each child has had an opportunity to take the book home, share the completed book with the class.