Gratitude is something that I want to ensure I teach to my daughter. Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to start a tradition of gratitude and thankfulness. There are lots of great books to help teach kids about being grateful, and today I used two of them to inspire some learning fun!

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Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes and Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson are great stories for introducing kids to the idea of being thankful. Thanks for Thanksgiving explores the many small things that kids may be thankful for in their lives. Bear Says Thanks tells the Thanksgiving story of Bear and his friends. While preparing a feast, Bear is sad to realize he doesn’t have food to contribute. His friends remind him why they are thankful for his company.

These books provide a great opportunity to develop a yearly tradition of giving thanks together. It can be so much fun to look back at the past together and see what you were thankful for! For more ideas on Thanksgiving traditions that you can start with your family (even brand new families) check out the awesome post on the blog A Mom Capturing Life’s Gifts. She has built a great list of traditions that has me excited to add some new ones to our holidays!

Thankful Placemats/Cards – Creating placemats or place cards for your Thanksgiving dinner is a great way to get kids involved in the big dinner preparations. You can let younger kids finger paint placemats or place cards. You could then write names or statements of gratitude on them after they dry. Older kids can draw their own designs or write out thankful statements or questions (what are they thankful for, what happened this year they are most grateful for, etc). These can become a great conversation starter at the dinner table!

Revisit what you are thankful for year after year!

My daughter’s handprint wreath

Grateful Wreath – This is a great craft for letting kids display what they are thankful for. Cut the center out of a paper plate so you have a ring. Cut leaf shapes or your child’s handprint out of red, green, yellow, orange and brown paper. Have kids tell you things that they are thankful for, or have them write them out themselves on the shapes. Attach the leaves or hands to the ring and attach a ribbon to hang the wreath by. Since my daughter is too young to tell me what she is thankful for, I created the wreath with her handprint, and plan to add something she is thankful for each year going forward.

Yearly Thankful Book – Start a Book of Thanks which your family can add to every year. Each family member can add what they are thankful for and their favorite memory from the past year. You can make it a tradition to read over entries from past years and add your newest entries together. Think of all the fun you will have reminiscing on your past together!

Have fun sharing what you are thankful for as a family!

My aunt’s Thanksgiving rolls

Thanksgiving Rolls – Make giving thanks into a fun dinner game and a conversation starter! This is a tradition in my family for the past few years. My aunt asks everyone to tell her something that they are thankful for in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. She prints these out onto paper, folds them up and tucks them into parchment paper. She then bakes the dinner rolls with these tucked inside. When you take a roll during dinner, you have to find the paper and read out the message inside. Everyone then has to guess who they think wrote it. It has brought us a lot of fun dinner conversation!

Discussion – In the story Bear Says Thanks, Bear isn’t able to provide any food for their dinner, but his friends remind him that they are grateful for the stories that he provides. What are you grateful for from each family member?

There are so many great traditions that you can start as a family that your children will remember fondly for years to come. Just as I adapted the grateful wreath for my very young daughter, you can begin many of these traditions as early as your child’s first Thanksgiving! The blog A Mom Capturing Life’s Gifts provides a great list of Thanksgiving traditions that you can start as a new family or anytime!

How do you and your family show what you are thankful for? Do you have a tradition for giving thanks?

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