End of the Year Gratitude (FREE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES)
It’s no secret, the week after Christmas is my favorite. I simply love the holiday season. The music, the food, the movies, The kids have all inherited my love for all things December. But, the week AFTER Christmas with the chaos, the mess, and the slow pace as we prepare for the year ahead. There is nothing quite like this.
We don’t follow our usual schedule or curriculum between Thanksgiving and the New Year. We learn plenty, but the structure is loose and follows the fun. But every year, the last week of the year is all about Gratitude and Goal Setting.
We talk about gratitude all the time, but I wanted to take this chance to really define and understand it. While saving this moment of our lives, their childhoods, for years to come.
You can find the printables for these activities here.
We started with the “What is Gratitude?” Worksheet.
I designed this worksheet with the “formal” definition of Gratitude, as well as space for kids to use their own words to define gratitude, and a chance to creatively express what gratitude means to them.
The first question allows us to check for their understanding of the concept of gratitude, and take the opportunity to clarify the concept.
The second section (draw what gratitude looks or feels like to you) is an opportunity for creative expression, there are no specific right or wrong answers here.
Then we moved on to our Yearly Gratitude Ornament
I cut out 5 slips of paper from worksheet number two. Depending on your child’s age and ability they may be able to help with this part.
We wrote names and ages on the back of each slip. Then we each wrote what we were most grateful for in 2021. Our favorite things that came to us this year. I found myself wanting to “correct” my five-year-olds response. She wrote that she was grateful for “Christmas”. I wanted to ask her to think about the whole year, not just the last few days. But, I feel it’s important for this activity to be self-directed and if influence her response, that point is lost.
For the littlest(1.5), I wrote a list of her favorite things. Gratitude is not a part of her vocabulary just yet.
I used these to make an ornament for our Christmas Tree, but the creative possibilities for this are endless. I plan to make something a little different each year.
This year I rolled up the slips and put them in an empty Christmas ornament. I printed small pictures of our family and a “Thank You 2021” picture. My oldest has the wonderful idea of making small versions of our favorite things from construction paper, he added his favorite video game, and my 5-year-old made a diamond.
I tied it together with leftover ribbon and here is the final product:
I am NOT a very crafty mom. My level of patience is not suited for “Pinterest worthy” projects. But, all the same, this ornament will capture this moment in time for my family and it will be cherished.
I would love to see what you do with this project. You can make an ornament like this. Display each individually with a ribbon, paste them to a piece of wood or cardstock. The possibilities are endless.
Self-Directed Year-End Project
Finally, we brought out lots of craft supplies, I gave them a simple prompt and let them create as they see fit. The supplies can be anything suited to your learners. Construction paper, clay, paint, markers, colored pencils, glitter, glue, feathers, beads. Whatever you wish.
The prompt is: What was your favorite memory this year? Make something to help you remember it.
That’s it. No judgement, very little guidance.
This can be as detailed or as simple as they want.
I’ve found when we do projects like this, the more materials I bring out, the more detail they naturally add. This project is all about them, so resist the urge to “help” or nudge in any direction.
During this whole week, we talk about gratitude any chance we get. We reflect on the year behind us and begin to shift to goal setting for the new year.
New Year’s Eve is all about who we want to be next.
We’ll talk about that in our next post.