Each holiday season I love adding in a project or activity that encourages my children to think about the true meaning of the holiday. With Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks, I am excited to add in this simple gratitude activity to help my kids think about all the ways we are abundantly blessed and what we have to be grateful for. 

In this blog post I am sharing a simple and intentional Thanksgiving gratitude activity for kids, with a free printable PDF. You could do this with your children in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, or you could do this simple activity with friends and family on Thanksgiving day.

In this blog post:

• How to encourage your children to express gratitude
• Thanksgiving gratitude paper chain activity for kids [Free printable PDF]
• Thanksgiving unit study for kids
• More holiday curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse

How to encourage your children to express gratitude

One of the virtues I want to instill in my children is appreciating what we have, recognizing all of our blessings, and expressing gratitude and contentment. Here are some things we have done in our home to try to teach this habit to our children.

1. Model gratitude with your manners and words. We ask our children to say “please” and “thank you,” but we also try to make sure we are saying “please” when we ask them to do something or “thank you” when we see something positive in their behavior. 
2. Express gratitude out loud. Talk to your children about what you are grateful for. Encourage them to develop a habit of gratitude by routinely saying what you have to be grateful for. Talk about how you are grateful and blessed in big and small ways.
3. Look for the bright side in difficult circumstances. When things don’t go as planned, talk to your children about what you have to be grateful for despite the challenges. You don’t have to minimize the challenges you are facing, but you can show how we experience blessings despite difficult circumstances.
4. Read Scriptures about thankfulness. Spend time in the Word and notice how people in the Bible showed hearts of gratitude, like Paul, who said he learned how to trust God in every circumstance. Memorize scripture together that reminds you to remain thankful. 
5. Say prayers of gratitude together. Spend time praying with your children and thanking God for your family and what you have.

Thanksgiving gratitude paper chain activity for kids [Free printable PDF]

This year in our home we are planning to spend the days leading up to Thanksgiving putting together a paper chain of all of the things we are grateful for. Each day I will ask my children to write what they are thankful for on a paper slip and color the image. Then, we will use the slips to make a paper chain to decorate our school space. By the time Thanksgiving arrives, we will have a visual reminder of all of our blessings and abundance. 

It is my hope that this simple activity encourages my children to notice and say all the things they have to be grateful for. 

Here are instructions for building your own Thanksgiving Gratitude Paper Chain:

1. Print and prep: Print the PDF provided below and carefully cut out each paper strip.
2. Fill with thanks: Have your children (and the whole family!) write one thing they are grateful for on each strip of paper.
3. Decorate (optional): Add some flair! Color, decorate, and personalize your strips if you like.
4. Start the chain: Take the first strip, curl it into a loop, and staple the ends together.
5. Link it up: For each new strip, thread it through the last loop you made, bring the ends together, and staple to form a new link.
6. Grow your gratitude: Keep going! Add as many links as you can to visually see the abundance of things you have to be grateful for this season.

Save and print the FREE Thanksgiving Gratitude Paper Chain below. 

Thanksgiving unit study for kids

If you are looking for an intentional way to learn about Thanksgiving this year, A Treasured Thanksgiving is a Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum designed with your whole family in mind. This two-week unit study is an invitation to study the historical Thanksgiving story in a hands-on way. Through Scripture, poetry, art studies, picture books, projects, baking, geography, and narration, your family will spend the two weeks before Thanksgiving connecting together and focusing on the meaning of the holiday. 

Dive deep into themes like the Pilgrim’s voyage to America, the Wampanoag people, the First Encounters, the First Thanksgiving, and the relationship between the Pilgrims and Native Americans in the first year.

This 2025 revised version has been updated to be more accessible and easier to use for families with children of all ages. It features an updated book list and daily learning summaries, making this curriculum truly open and go.

More holiday curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse

If you enjoy diving into the meaning of the holiday with A Treasured Thanksgiving, you will love the other holiday unit studies from Treehouse Schoolhouse.

A Connected Christmas

A Connected Christmas is a curriculum designed to connect hearts to the heart of Christmas – to the truth of Jesus coming to earth to seek and save the lost. Explore the nativity story through Scripture readings to delight in festive carols, stories, poetry, art, baking, and handcrafts.

A Connected Christmas, Volume Two

A Connected Christmas, Volume Two continues the same holiday tradition of carols, stories, poetry, art, baking, and handcrafts, designed to bring your family together during this holiday season. Share in the love of Christ by revisiting the Nativity story along with new stories and heartwarming activities to enjoy this season together.

A Connected Christmas: Around the World

Celebrate Christ’s birth and connect hearts to the truth of Jesus while experiencing how Christmas is celebrated across the globe with A Connected Christmas: Around the World. Give your children a way to travel the world as you explore the Christmas season in different languages, climates, and cultures. Experience the unique traditions of different countries through festive carols, stories, poetry, fine art, baking, and handcrafts.

An Expectant Easter

Use An Expectant Easter to focus on what Easter is all about through Bible stories, hymns, poetry, art studies, picture books, projects, baking, and more. Connect and focus on the newness of Spring, the sacrifice Jesus made, and the power of His resurrection. 

How will you teach your children about gratitude this holiday season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.