Nearly five years ago, I started a gratitude journal. It has had such a positive impact on my life (and helped me better process those really hard days).
Every night, I write down three things that I am grateful for, no matter how small or silly those things might be. It might be an action that someone did on my behalf. It might be something someone did that made me laugh. It might be something I am proud of or something that surprised me during the day. Writing those things down is such a great way to reflect and appreciate the good in my life.
Keeping a gratitude journal like this is such a wonderful mindfulness exercise. Plus, it's something that not only adults, but children and teens can do too.
And that's where this free gratitude jar printable comes in. It's a great tool for helping kids and teens start to reflect and be appreciative of the good in them and others, as well as the good that is all around them.
About this Gratitude Jar Printable Pack
This gratitude jar printable is all about identifying the things you appreciate and are grateful or thankful for in your day to day life. The idea is to help you be more mindful by considering what went well during your day or what made you happy, even if your day was crummy overall.
Like I mentioned earlier, it's a simple mindfulness activity that anyone - no matter the age - can do. Yes, even kids. Besides, it's not something that takes long to do either. You can simply spend a few minutes each day writing down something that you are grateful for.
Before you download the printable though, let's take a look at some ways you might use this printable gratitude jar. We'll also look at some prompts to get you started.
Tips & Suggestions for Using these Gratitude Jars
There are a variety of different ways to use these printable gratitude jars as you will see. However, feel free to get creative and come up with your own ideas if you'd like.
- Write down what you are grateful for
- Draw pictures of what you are grateful for
- Cut out pictures from magazines or newspapers of what you are grateful for and glue them to the page
- Print off pictures of what you are grateful for and glue them to the page
- Laminate the printable so it is reusable
- Print off multiple pages and make a gratitude journal and fill in a jar every night, once a week, or even once a month
- For really little kids, encourage them to name what they are grateful for and you can write or draw it for them
Not Sure What to Write or Draw? Try These Gratitude Prompts
Sometimes it can be hard to name or list some things that you might be grateful or thankful for. Especially for kids. And even more so for hyperlexic or autistic kids who often find open-ended writing activities like this pretty overwhelming (see this post for more information).
So, here are some prompts to consider when filling in your printable jars. And don't worry, this list is included with the printable jars as well.
- Family members
- Friends
- Pets or animals
- Something someone did for you recently
- A favorite object or belonging
- Something in nature
- Specific skills, talents, or strengths that you have
- Something you are proud of
- Something you like about yourself
- A challenge that you overcame
- Something you are happy to have
- Someone or something you love
- Holidays or seasons
- Your favorite people, memories, animal, sport, hobby, toy, song, book, places, food, teacher, items, etc.
- Something beautiful
- A gift you've received
- Something that made you laugh or smile
- Something you enjoy doing
- Something you use every day
- Something that brings you comfort
- Something you find calming or soothing
Download the Free Gratitude Jar Printable Pack
