7 Ways to Encourage Gratitude in the Classroom

Without a doubt, teaching our young students about the importance of gratitude in our lives is more relevant than ever. Here at Rainbow Sky Creations, we have been excited about creating resources to make this easier for teachers to fulfil.

According to Forbes, showing gratitude has the following scientific benefits:

1. Gratitude opens the door to more relationships

2. Gratitude improves physical health.

3. Gratitude improves psychological health.

4. Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.

5. Grateful people sleep better.

6. Gratitude increases mental strength.

7. Gratitude improves self-esteem.

Read more about it here.

So, with that in mind, here are some teaching inspiration, ideas, and suggestions for encouraging an ‘attitude of gratitude’ in the classroom.

1. Begin the day with Gratitude

We like to start our school day with a very quick gratitude journaling activity (if you teach at a religious school, this could be a part of your morning prayer too). Students jot down 1-3 things that they are grateful for. This activity can be completed in the back of a workbook, in a special gratitude book or on a piece of paper dedicated to gratitude.

 

As teachers, it is a wonderful habit to get into as well. When our students sit down to journal for the first 5 minutes of the day, aim to carve out that time for your wellbeing too. Additionally, it is always lovely to be open and share what you are grateful for with your class, especially as you are beginning the process.

 

Simply journaling for five minutes a day about what we are grateful for can enhance our long-term happiness by over 10% (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005)

2. Create a display

You can create a display with your class any time of the year to reinforce the importance and benefits of being grateful. We love a gratitude tree because you can continually add leaves to it throughout the year. You might even want to swap the leaves according to what season you are in and make it a permanent fixture in your classroom.

 

During home learning, we know some teachers sent leaves home to their students and they returned them to be added to the class tree. Mix it up and ask families to contribute to your gratitude tree as a part of weekly homework by sending home a few leaves.

 

3. Integrate it with a wellbeing check in

Wellbeing check-ins are becoming more and more popular in classrooms, particularly with what everyone in the world has experienced in the last 2 years. Wellbeing tasks could be activities focusing on self-reflection, mindfulness, meditation and gratitude.

 

Allowing children to express what might not be going right is important, but it is just as relevant to give them the opportunity to see that everything isn’t doom and gloom.

Find our student Wellbeing journal for Grades K-2 here and Grades 3-6 here.

4. Create a school focus

Creating a central focus on gratitude will allow you to collaborate with your colleagues and share creative ideas around the theme. You might pin up banners in common areas spreading the message of gratitude, create a school gratitude tree in a central location or have classes record on the playground in chalk what they are grateful for.

 

This is also an opportunity to start a gratitude movement in the staffroom too.

6. Participate in Grateful in April

Grateful in April is a global event where mini-challenges are set each day around the idea of people making a more positive impact in their community. We have participated ourselves as adults and love the daily emails and prompts they send. This initiative could easily be adapted for primary aged children.

5. The Gratitude Project

This project is great for achieving a deeper focus on gratitude in your classroom. We have seen entire schools adopt the project, and all do it collectively, which has been beautiful.

The Gratitude Project provides students with learning and investigating opportunities to develop an understanding of what it means to be thankful, discover what others are thankful for, and reflect upon what they are grateful for in their own lives. Some tasks require research or talking to each other. At the same time, others include reflecting, writing or designing. The project is about changing attitudes and seeing the world through the lens of a grateful heart.

Read more about the Gratitude project here.

Gratitude Project

6. Expressing compliments

We have found over the years that teaching students how to compliment each other is giving them a lifelong gift. Even though showing appreciation or complimenting someone isn’t the same as showing gratitude, it is an excellent way for the recipient of the compliment to be grateful for hearing or seeing the wonderful things others feel about them.

 

We created these compliment jars for this exact purpose. However, you could put your own spin on them and ask students to record things they are grateful for on the coloured slips.

Want a Christmas version? Find it here.

7. Read about it

There are so many books suitable for all ages that discuss gratitude for kids. Some of our favourites include:

  • Human Kind: Gratitude By Zanni Louise
  • Gratitude is My Superpower by Alicia Orteg
  • The World Needs Who You Were Made To Be By Joanna Gaines
  • Thankful By Eileen Spinelli
  • A New Day By Alex Ryvchin

For the teacher

We can’t end this blog post without recommending, The Resilience Project by Hugh Van Cuylenburg. It is an amazing read and you will be bound to get so much from it as both an educator and human being.

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Encouraging students to begin thinking with a grateful heart and acting with thanks towards others is a lifelong skill that every student and classroom will benefit from.

 

If you decide to put any of these ideas into action, we would love to hear about it. Email us, send us a DM or tag us on Instagram. We love connecting with the amazing Rainbow Sky community.

Resources mentioned in this blog post:

The Gratitude Tree

The Gratitude Project

Compliment Jars

Student Wellbeing journal – Early Years

Student Wellbeing journal – Primary Years

 

Save these ideas for later by pinning this image:

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What to read next:

How I implemented Growth Mindset into my classroom

12 Ways to show gratitude to your office staff

Kindness at Christmas – ideas and a freebie

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