Another fun way to build a grateful life! | 8th Primary School Thebes Greece

 Gratitude is defined as the feeling or expression of thankfulness and appreciation toward yourself, others, people, places, or things. Gratitude isn’t always an emotion that everyone is able to express. Students may need direction and guidance from their teachers when it comes to discussing gratitude. Studies show that when students practise expressing their feelings, they have higher levels of optimism, increased life satisfaction, and decreased negative feelings. Additionally, students who regularly express gratitude appreciate close relationships and feel better about their life and school.  

Some gratitude-filled activities that I used to teach students about gratitude and to practice giving thanks:

The gratitude jar : 

Students of 8th Primary School Thebes started to have a gratitude jar in our classroom. A gratitude jar is the perfect way to help students think about and recognize the things they have to be thankful for. The idea behind the jar is for students to write down something they are grateful for on a piece of paper and place it in the jar. 

The gratitude tree:

My students also created the gratitude tree. This collaborative activity allows students to list what they are thankful for by placing leaves on a tree.

Alphabet Gratitude 

I encouraged  my students to write each letter of the alphabet and try to find at least one thing they are grateful for under each letter. We developed an interactive presentation about The Alphabet Gratitude:

 

These activities are a great way for them to focus on positive things.  Sometimes it's the simple things that make life wonderful: the beautiful sunrise, having food to eat and clothes to wear, our friends, …