Gratitude jars are an easy way to build gratitude in your family or classroom by taking the time every day to recognize what you’re grateful for. Check out these fun gratitude jar ideas for different ways to share and express gratitude all month long!
I’m in full on Thanksgiving mood over here these days if you couldn’t tell by the Thanksgiving coloring pages and Thanksgiving rice krispie treats I already posted this week.
And I’ll apologize now if you aren’t a Thanksgiving person because they are going to keep on coming over the next few weeks. I’m just a bit behind this year and have all sorts of fun Thanksgiving games left to share!
Feel free to right to all my Christmas games instead!
A typical tradition during Thanksgiving dinner is to go around the table and have everyone say something that they’re thankful for, or at least that’s how it worked at my house.
I always hate having to come up with the perfect answer on the spot, the answer that no one else thought of and that isn’t a generic “my family,” type answer.
This year I thought it would be fun to take the tradition one step further and come up with things I’m grateful for all month long and create a gratitude jar to keep them all in.
It’s a simple jar that I can fill up with the things I’m grateful for as I think of them including the random ones like Amazon.com and fuzzy socks to the more important ones like my kids and my beliefs.
Our jar is a very basic one with just a piece of cute ribbon on it, but I thought it would be fun to share different gratitude jar ideas in case you want to do something similar!
What is a Gratitude Jar
A gratitude jar is an activity where participants write down things they are grateful for on pieces of paper and put them in a jar that will later be shared with the group at the end of November or even around the table at Thanksgiving!
There are many different types of gratitude jars, but they all work similarly: a group fills a jar with items or quotes that inspire them or remind them of how fortunate they are.
This jar can be found at your local dollar store and the cost of it may vary depending on where you purchase it from or you can use any type of container for your gratitude jar – some people like mason jars while others prefer an old shoe box!
Gratitude jars are an easy way to build gratitude in your family or classroom by taking the time every day to recognize what you’re grateful for.
How to Use a Gratitude Jar
There are a number of ways to use gratitude jars depending on how much time you have and what your goals are. A couple of easy ways we’ve used them in the past include:
- As a family activity during November where everyone contributes one thing a day they are grateful for then we take them out and read them anonymously at the end of the month before we move onto these fun Christmas activities!
- As a Thanksgiving activity where everyone takes a few minutes to write things down before the meal! Then between the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, we read through the things in the jar together.
- As a way to work on being kind to others and recognizing the people we appreciate in our lives. Instead of just putting in things we’re grateful for, we put in kind things people did for us and why we’re grateful for that person. It goes nicely with this Thanksgiving dice game.
- As one of our gratitude activities during this gratitude game with the kids!
Gratitude Jar Ideas
Many people are looking for gratitude jar ideas to help them think about gratitude and different ways to collect and share it. If you need some fresh ideas, this post will provide some simple gratitude jar ideas that can be used with kids, adults or by yourself!
I tried to include a variety of different ideas for doing some sort of gratitude jar activity, not just different containers!
Tips for Creating Gratitude Jars
As you’re planning out your own gratitude jar activity, here are a few tips to keep in mind!
Let people get creative. You may want to write your items, someone else may want to draw or even paint their items. The goal is just to foster positivity and gratitude so let people do it however they want.
Read through things in the jar at least once a month, if not once a week. It’ll help keep people motivated and on track to keep writing down the things they’re grateful for.
Make it a celebration when you fill the jar or when you hit the date you’re going to read what’s inside. Go somewhere to eat or order in and really make going through the jar something to celebrate and enjoy!
Don’t think anything is too small to make it in the gratitude jar. Explain to everyone participating that this is what they are grateful for. It’s okay if it’s something as simple as their alarm going off on time or getting to play with a friend after school. The goal is to think about what makes us blessed and anything and everything does that.
Gratitude Jar FAQs
You can fill a gratitude jar once a day, anytime you’re feeling grateful, or really any time you want! The idea is just to fill it regularly to foster more appreciation for the blessings in our lives.
Gratitude jars help people remember to be thankful! It’s easy to take things in our lives for granted when we don’t stop to think about them sometimes. A gratitude jar can remind us to keep track of these good things so that we always feel appreciated, rather than neglected or taken for granted.
Grab any container you want that’s large enough to hold pieces of paper inside. Then decorate it however you see fit – glitter, ribbons, mod podge, photos, etc. You can also decorate the inside with things you love like flowers, confetti, shells, and more.
More Thanksgiving Activities
If you’re looking for more ways to enjoy the Thanksgiving season together, try some of these fun activities with your family!
- Thanksgiving pictionary – forget talking, try drawing some of those things you’re grateful for in this silly Thanksgiving game!
- Thanksgiving would you rather – would you rather eat turkey every day or mashed potatoes? Lots of fun questions for the entire family!
- Thanksgiving charades – a Thanksgiving version of the classic game of charades! Or try one of my favorite party games for adults and make it a round of reverse charades instead!
- Thanksgiving bingo – free printable Thanksgiving bingo cards, perfect for a Thanksgiving feast or Friendsgiving!
- Thanksgiving trivia – grab a sheet of Thanksgiving trivia questions or just place cards around the room for people to quiz themselves in between the sausage stuffing and apple pie!
Note: This post was originally written in 2013 as just directions for how we created our give thanks jar. It has since been updated to include more details and other people’s gratitude jar ideas!
Joanne T Ferguson says
G’day Britni and what a great idea, true!
Love seeing all things creative, especially around Thanksgiving time too!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of Cathy’s Bloggers Showcase: Thanksgiving (Fall) Recipe RoundUp
Jeanette L. says
My daughter will be so cute with this idea…this really does set the tone for the holidays. What a great idea…thanks for sharing. Found you on the Show & Tell board. 🙂
Britni Vigil says
Thanks for stopping by Jeanette! I hope your daughter loves it.
Lucy T says
Just saw this on the Pincentive Blog Hop. {We are co-hosting this week, Yay!} We are doing something very similar only ours involves acorns as not all of my children can write yet. Yours is so cute.
Britni Vigil says
Oh I’d love to see it if you share it online, acorns sounds really fun.
tljwlj says
I think this would be great to do in Classroom. Then before Holiday let Students read what is in the jar. On;ly problem is I’ve not been able to down load. Keeps asking for password. Not sure why but tried 3 times. Hope I can get back here to look at this project and do for my class.
Thanks wanda
Britni Vigil says
Wanda, what are you trying to download? If you’re trying to download the printables they are on Bird’s Party Facebook page. I’m not sure what password you are referring to but feel free to email me and hopefully I can help you out.
Sarah Vanderkooy says
What a great idea, it looks really cute too.
Britni Vigil says
Thanks Sarah!
Emily SimpleLifeFireWife says
What a sweet idea. I love opening them on Thanksgiving day 🙂
-Emily @ http://www.simplelifeofafirewife.com
Britni Vigil says
Me too! I thought it could be a fun new Thanksgiving tradition.
honestysprotegee.com says
I really like this idea! Sharing on Google+.
Britni Vigil says
Thanks!
Kristina @ Sew Curly says
Thanks for the reminder of doing something like this. I’m going to do it at dinner time every night this month!
Britni Vigil says
Such a great idea to do it at dinner, we have been playing my gratitude game every night together.
Prototype mama says
We do something like this around Thanksgiving! I love the jar idea!
Britni Vigil says
I’d love to hear more about what you do. Thanks for stopping by!
Emily Glover says
I love this idea and fuzzy socks!!! I came over from the DBB. Pinning this!
Britni Vigil says
Fuzzy socks are my favorite especially when it’s cold out!
Lindsey Let the Light Shine Blog says
Oh my goodness, I love this idea! Pinning now 🙂
Britni Vigil says
Thanks Lindsey!
Jenn Specketer says
I love this idea! My hubby and I are “guardian angels” for a 7th grader at our church, and each month we drop off gifts to let him know we are thinking of him. I think this would be a great activity that he could do with his family, so I’m going to work on this over the weekend! Thanks!
Britni Vigil says
Oh that is such a great idea and what a wonderful thing to do for the 7th grader. I’d love to see a picture of your final product if you made one this weekend.
Victoria @ Creative Home Keeper says
I love this! This is so cute, and I love the idea of writing things to be thankful for all month in. What a great lesson to teach to our kids too. I think my son would really love this. Thanks for sharing.
Britni Vigil says
Thanks Victoria! I hope he does.
Karen Koblan says
I love this! What a great thing to do this month! My daughter is a little young but I would do this with my husband and I! Pinning right now!
Britni Vigil says
My son is too young as well but I created one with my husband anyway. And best part is that once you’ve created it once you can use it next year and the next when your little girl is old enough.
Kimberly Leverett Osburn says
What an awesome idea. We have a monthly cousins get together and I think I’m going to see if everyone wants to make one of these to take home and use as a reminder of things to be thankful for.
Britni Vigil says
I think this would be such a fun family activity!
Chelsea says
This is such a great idea! I love this! I will definitely be doing this in November! And making my husband do it too 🙂
Britni Vigil says
Chelsea, I’m so glad you guys were able to create a version of this. It turned out so cute!