Create a special jar to store all the things you are grateful for each day.
What you’ll need: A clear jar, paper, coloured pens/ pencils, scissors, glue, any decorative art materials you can find at home (like stickers, ribbons, pictures cut out from old magazines, buttons, elastic bands etc.)
What’s it for?
This activity will help you reflect upon your day and think about at least one thing you are grateful for. This can help you look at your experiences from a different perspective and appreciate that even if not every day may always be good, you can find something good in each day.
Check In:
Notice how you’re feeling right now. Close your eyes and notice what’s going on inside your mind and body.
How are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
How does your body feel?
Method:
Take an empty jar with a lid and decorate it using any items you can find at home or in nature. You can use glue, elastic bands, or blue tac to attach your decorations. Think about your favourite colours and objects that will help you personalise your jar. You could even write your name or draw a picture, cut it out and glue it onto a jar or a lid. You can use stickers, ribbons, old magazines and anything else you can imagine.
Once you’re happy with your jar, take a sheet of paper and cut several strips along the shorter side, ensuring there is enough space on each slip to write a sentence.
Now take a moment to think about three things that you appreciated or were grateful for today. If you are making your gratitude jar in the morning, you could think about the previous day.
Here are some questions that could help you think about something good that happened during the day:
o What made you happy today?
o What did you have fun doing today?
o Who did you have fun with today?
o What or who made you smile today and why?
o Think of one person you feel grateful for today and why?
o What is your favourite memory from today?
o Did you learn something interesting today? What was it?
o What was your favourite food you ate today?
o What was your favourite drink you enjoyed today?
o Think of a person that helped you solve a problem or helped you with a task.
o Think of something that makes your life better every day.
o Think of someone who makes you life happier every day.
o What body part are you most grateful for today? Perhaps your eyes because you could watch your favourite movie?
o What is your favourite daily activity and why is it an important part of your daily routine?
o Describe something funny that you watched today.
o Can you think of one nice thing you experienced today? What was it?
o Can you think of one person who was nice to you today and why?
o List three of your favourite possessions you were able to use today.
o Describe something that was hard to do today but made you proud of yourself.
o Describe one thing you really liked and appreciated about yourself today. This could be related to your character, appearance, or the way you showed kindness or managed a difficult situation etc.
Write down your gratitude sentences on three separate slips. If you are working with another person, you can take turns sharing and discussing your statements with each other.
Finally, fold your gratitude slips and put them inside of your jar. You can secure the jar with a lid and think of a safe place you would like to keep it. You may want to place it somewhere you can see to remind you of the things you are grateful for each day, perhaps on your desk or a bed site table.
Extra Activity: This activity could be a part of your daily routine before bedtime. You could share your gratitude statements with the people in your household and ask them about their day.
When you’ve finished, spend a moment reflecting on the activity and ask yourself the following questions:
Did you discover anything surprising while you did this activity?
What is gratitude?
How did you show your gratitude to someone today and how did they respond?
Was is easy or hard to find three things that you were grateful for today?
Why is it important to notice and appreciate all the good things happening to us?
How does your body feel when you think about all the good things that happened today?
How can gratitude help when you are having a bad day?
How can we show gratitude towards others? If it is through words, what words would you use? If it is through action, what action would that be?
How do you think it makes others feel when we show gratitude towards them?
Conclusion:
This activity helps you to think about positive experiences that happened on the day, and create a way to appreciate them even when things feel hard. This can support you with staying positive when you are having a not so good day, and recognise that showing others that we appreciate them not only makes them feel happy and loved, but it also makes you feel good about yourself.
Take a moment to notice how you are feeling at the end of this activity. Did you discover anything surprising? What can you take away to make you feel better about yourself from this activity?
If you would like to, share something about your experience with this activity with someone you live with! Ask the person who looks after you to send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the activity or would like to send us any pictures (info@catcorner.co.uk). Don't forget to subscribe for more fun CAT activities!
Created by Karolina Koman © June 2020
Creative Arts Used: Art
Psychological Areas Explored: Emotional Wellbeing, Resilience, Self-Exploration
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These activities could be done by children of all ages, but some may need the support of their parent or carer to read the instructions or complete the activity safely.
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