The Gratitude Jar: Teaching Our Kids to Be Grateful

I’ve learned a thing or two about being grateful. My own life experiences have taught me that when you are thankful for what you have (and don’t have), for what you enjoy and the opportunities that come your way, it often happens that more good things come to you. Increasingly, science is proving the benefits of being grateful too. An article published by UCLA Health in March 2023 argued that “practicing gratitude–15 minutes a day, five days a week–for at least six weeks can enhance mental wellness and possibly promote a lasting change in perspective. Gratitude and its mental health benefits can also positively affect your physical health.” 

Of course, it’s one thing for adults to practice gratitude for our own sanity, and quite another one to teach gratitude to our kiddos, so they too grow up knowing about and benefiting from this practice. 

How can we do that?

The Mental Health Center Kids showed nine ways to develop gratitude in children in this video; from meditation and being appreciative to those around us, to having a Gratitude Jar. I started a Gratitude Jar with my 5 year-old son recently (an exercise that I have been doing myself for years now), and let me tell you, he gets it, he loves it, and he has started to appreciate the little things in life. 

1. Find an appropriate jar; we used a Mason jar – it could be any container, even a box! You can decorate it or leave it as is. We happened to find a “Thank You” sticker and that’s all we have on ours!

2. Get yourself some Post-its or any kind of small pieces of paper (any color or multiple colors, your choice!) and a pen or markers.  

3. Place your Gratitude Jar somewhere visible to you and your child(ren), so you can easily remember this practice every day. We put ours on the kitchen table. 

4. Explain the process to your child(ren): “Every day we are going to be thankful for things that made us feel happy, lucky, or grateful. We will think together and write those things down on these pieces of paper, fold them, and place them in the jar. It might be one thing a day, or maybe some days there are multiple things to write down and other days we can’t think of anything – it’s all OK! At the end of the month (or year if your kid is older), we will sit down together and open all the folded notes.”

I love when my son randomly throughout the day points out what he wants to write that night for our jar. Sesame Street Workshop once published a video on Gratitude using a scavenger hunt. There are many other ways to do it!

We teach them to say “please” and “thank you” early on. We should also teach them to identify the things around them that make them happy and be grateful for those things and experiences. They’ll grow up happier and more optimistic, and we, as moms, will be too!