Thankfulness Parent Page

Caregiver’s companion guide to JAM Sessions Thankfulness Unit.

I Chronicles 16:34 Oh Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Being thankful doesn’t always come naturally. We don’t just fall into it. It’s why we parents are always reminding our preschool kids to say thank you. Gratitude is easiest when we have what we want, when life is going our way. But JAM Sessions reminds our kiddos to be thankful always, for the important things like God’s love and for the little things too. If you’re doing this Unit with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, we can be inundated with food prep and in-laws, costume parties and pumpkin spice everything and forget to actually be thankful. Each morning at breakfast or on the way to school, Tell your kiddo three things that you are thankful for that day. Modeling gratitude is one of the best ways to raise thankful children.

Thankfulness Jesus Session

• Thankful for God’s Love
• Thankful Always
• Thankful for Friends
• Thankful for What we Have
• Thankfulness Reduces Anxiety
• Thankful for Salvation

Here’s some helpful advice from the Child Mind Institute on how to raise a thankful child.

Bring gratitude back into Thanksgiving or any time! Here’s a fun game from Teach Beside Me called The Pick-up Sticks Gratitude Game.

Play this with the kiddos and adults to remind everyone — including yourself — what you’re thankful for.

Thankfulness Art Session

In this unit, we play with a lot of creative expression versus realism in our art. It’s important for littles to feel secure in choosing favorite colors and designs. It’s okay if they want to color their leaves pink and purple. But patterns and mazes require absolutes. In life, some things are opinion and some things are fact. This is reflected in our crafts. We also introduce a variety of sensory experiences. Here’s some fun ideas on how to explore texture at home.

If you are doing this Unit leading up to Thanksgiving, this helpful article in Mother Mag discusses the tricky job of explaining Thanksgiving to littles in an accurate and age-appropriate way. One tip mentioned is to ask what they already know. Working through the JAM at Home worksheets is an excellent opportunity to do just that.

Thankfulness Music Session

The Thankfulness Unit’s song is “Let’s All Be Thankful.” We sing about being thankful in good times and in hard times.

Thankfulness Playlist

Show your gratitude to these musicians by purchasing some of their music.

Here are some suggested books on the Story Graph.

And here are some fun videos to keep up our thankfulness.