Want to teach your kids about being thankful? Start this Thanksgiving tradition!
Start a New Thanksgiving Tradition with Your Kids
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to start new traditions with your family. It’s a time when family gathers to spend quality time together, often sharing what they are most thankful for and making memories.
For me, it’s all about traditions that make lasting warm memories, ones that will be shared for generations to come. I want my kids to remember spending quality time as a family, instilling in them pride for their family values.
How to Make the Thankful Jar
One tradition you can start right now is The Thankful Jar. It can be a week-long, month-long, or even year-long project focusing on thankfulness and gratefulness that is then shared on Thanksgiving Day!
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The Thankful Jar
It’s quite simple, really. First, find a large jar, one large enough to hold slips of paper that will accumulate over the course of a year. For my jar, I used a mason jar (affiliate link), which is just the right size and doesn’t take up too much counter space.
Next, you can add a label to your jar. This is the image I used (click on image for printable). You can even get chalk labels made specifically for mason jars.
When your jar is ready, it’s time to print the “I am thankful for” slips of paper (Click image for printable). Cut them into strips and keep them near the jar with a pen or pencil for easy access!
How to Use the Thankful Jar
At the end of every day (or even once at the end of every week), each family member can take a few minutes to think about something they are thankful for, write it on a slip of paper, and then place it in the jar.
You may have to help little kids, but it’s a great way to practice writing and spelling!
On Thanksgiving, each member of the family can take turns reading each thankful thought and reliving the happy memories from the year. When the jar is empty, it can be returned to its place and new thankful thoughts can start accumulating for the next year!
Answer This!
What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Are you going to start a new Thanksgiving tradition this year? Share with us in a comment below!
Rachel L Alba says
What a great idea. Sometimes we do forget things we are thankful for during the year. This is a great way to remember.
Dogvills says
Having a thankful jar sounds like a great idea. This will be a good reminder of the things we are really thankful for.
Jenn says
As a kid I always dreaded the ‘what are you thankful for’ round robin at dinner–my mind would go totally blank. This sounds like a great way to do that without anyone being put on the spot!
Ana De- Jesus says
What a lovely idea I should great a giving thanks jar too for having a new life far removed from the toxicity of my previous circumstances and to meeting new friends.
Eva @ Kidminds says
I love traditions! I hope our new family tradition is riding horses on Thanksgiving Day. Love your Thankful Jar idea!
cuteheads says
What a brilliant idea! I’m totally doing this!
Blythe A. says
I really like this idea. My family used to go around the table and say what we are thankful for, but I think this is a great way of compiling a bigger list to share.
Cynthia @craftoflaughter says
This is really a good idea. Kids (and adults) need to learn to appreciate all their blessings!
Erin says
This is such a wonderful idea! I love getting to share what everyone is thankful for!
Mar says
I love this idea! I keep a thankfulness journal, but this a great way for a family to get in on the action together.
lifeaslex says
Such a fun and great idea. I need to print these out for my five year old and I to do! Thanks for sharing the print outs!!!
Debra says
I love this so much! We are trying to get our kids back to the roots of Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Pam says
I just saw a friend post about a similar tradition on Facebook! They fill a “great pumpkin” (pumpkin cookie jar) with thankful notes every year. I love the idea. I’m not in a position to start it this year (spending most of November visiting family before hubby returns from deployment), but I’m keeping it in mind for next year!
Jen K says
This is such a great idea for this month. I will do this with my boys.
alexandria waning says
This is a really cute idea. I feel like Thanksgiving gets a little lost with my daughter. We are not around family so the day doesn’t really have that special vibe.
Trish @Almost Sexy Mommy says
This is such a cute idea! Definitely going to be implementing this in my house!
JanetGoingCrazy says
After the selfish year my son has had, he could use a thankful craft like this!
ashleigh says
What a wonderful tradition to start! We are hearing all the things our son is thankful for this month and it’s adorable.
Kiersten Millican says
Such a sweet idea. It would make for a great family tradition!
Melissa says
This is definitely something I would love to incorporate into my family’s Thanksgiving.
BA @FoodMarriage says
What a great idea! I’ll have to keep this in mind for when my daughter is a little older!
CourtneyLynne says
We do something very similar. We do a tree instead of a jar 🙂 love this time of year 🙂
lexie says
aww I love this idea! Definitely want to do it this year with my family thanks dear!
ellen beck says
This is such a simple thing to do. I know we did it when we were young, and I bet it is even more relevant now. We all think everyones life is better, and sometimes it isnt. We for get there are those with less. We need to be thankful we have what we do have,