Free printables · ages 3 to 8

Gratitude jar

A jar, a pile of slips and one thankful thing on each. Then, on a gray day, pull one out.

Our picture book Finding Gratitude ends with a family “box of gratitude”. Here is everything to start one: 60 prompts by age, slips to print (with pictures for little ones who can't read yet), jar labels, and a jar that fills up on your phone or tablet.

Print the labels and slips Try the jar on a phone or tablet

Fall from Finding Gratitude, a round orange character with a leaf on his head, looking up and wondering.

Print · free, no sign-up

Free gratitude jar printables

Labels for the lid and the front, 60 prompt slips (20 for each age band), picture slips for children who can't read yet, and blank slips to keep by the jar. Every sheet comes in US Letter and A4, in color and in black and white. No email, no account.

Gratitude jar labels
Two round labels for the lid, two for the front, the book's box of gratitude in Katia's words and four slips to start the jar.
Ages 4 to 8 · 1 page · PDF
ColorUS Letter A4
Black and whiteUS Letter A4
60 gratitude jar prompts
Three pages of slips to cut out, one per age band: 20 for ages 3 to 4, 20 for 5 to 6, 20 for 7 to 8. Pull one out and answer it together.
Ages 3 to 8 · 3 pages · PDF
ColorUS Letter A4
Black and whiteUS Letter A4
Picture slips
For little ones who can't read yet: family, a friend, a pet, home, food, a toy, outside, school, a warm drink and warm boots, plus two to draw on.
Ages 3 to 5 · 1 page · PDF
ColorUS Letter A4
Black and whiteUS Letter A4
Blank jar slips
Sixteen slips with "I am thankful for", a line to write on and a "From", to keep next to the jar.
Ages 5 to 8 · 1 page · PDF
ColorUS Letter A4
Black and whiteUS Letter A4

Free for home and classroom use. To pass them on, please share the link to this page and not the file.

From the back of the book

The book's family box of gratitude

At the back of Finding Gratitude, Katia wrote four ways to practice gratitude. This is the fourth, and it is a gratitude jar in all but name. Notice the last line: the jar isn't only for filling. It's for the days you need it.

Make a family “box of gratitude”
Katia's words, as printed in the book
Choose a box, or a jar.Decorate it! Use different colours, glitter, stickers etc.!When you feel grateful for something you can write it down and put it in the box. Ask the others to do it too.Take one and read it when you feel that you need to cheer up!

How to

How to use a gratitude jar with kids

Pick a jar and a time
Any jar or box works: a pasta jar, a shoe box, an old tin. Put it where everyone sees it, with slips and a pencil next to it. Then pick one moment a day: at dinner, after school or at bedtime.
One slip each
Everyone adds one thankful thing. Little ones draw it or pick a picture slip, and a grown-up writes their words. Grown-ups add one too: children copy what they see.
Ask one more question
When a slip goes in, ask who made that happen, or why they did it. That one question turns "I'm thankful for my bike" into "Grandpa fixed my bike for me."
Pull one out on a gray day
The book's own twist: when someone needs cheering up, take a slip out and read it. A full jar is a pile of good days to come back to.

In the book's words

Take one and read it when you feel that you need to cheer up!

A gratitude jar in the classroom

In class, keep one jar on the teacher's desk. A few children add a slip at morning meeting, or everyone adds one on Friday afternoon. Read three out loud before the weekend, and save the full jar for the last day before a break.

The question that matters most is “why do you think they did that?”. It's the Think step of notice, think, feel and do, the four parts of gratitude that researchers at the University of North Carolina describe, and the one parents skip most.

What to write

60 gratitude jar ideas for kids

Stuck for what to write? Pull a question and answer it. They are on the printable slips too, 20 for each age, so you can fold them into the jar with the answers.

Ages 3 to 4

Little ones (a grown-up writes)

1.Who gave you a hug today?
2.What did you eat that was yummy?
3.What toy did you play with?
4.Who played with you?
5.What made you laugh?
6.What is your favorite thing to wear?
7.Which animal do you love?
8.What did you see outside?
9.What is the best part of bedtime?
10.Who reads you stories?
11.What is cozy in your house?
12.What color made you happy today?
13.What is your favorite song?
14.Who helps you get dressed?
15.What did you build or draw?
16.What did you splash, dig or jump in?
17.Who said something kind to you?
18.What smells good in the kitchen?
19.What is your favorite place to sit?
20.What do you love about your family?

Ages 5 to 6

Starting to write

1.Who helped you today, and how?
2.Something new you learned
3.A friend you are glad to have
4.Something that was fun at school
5.A grown-up who takes care of you
6.Something in nature you noticed
7.A food someone made for you
8.Something you can do now that you couldn't before
9.A book you love
10.Something that made you feel brave
11.A game you like to play with someone
12.A sound you like to hear
13.Something warm on a cold day
14.Someone who makes you laugh
15.A favorite thing about today's weather
16.Something you shared, or someone shared with you
17.A place you like to go
18.Something about your body that works hard
19.A pet or animal you love
20.Something you are looking forward to

Ages 7 to 8

Add a because

1.Someone who helped you without being asked. Why do you think they did it?
2.A gift that wasn't a thing
3.Something hard that turned out fine
4.A mistake you learned from
5.Someone whose job makes your day better
6.A kind thing you saw someone do
7.Something you have that you sometimes forget about
8.A person who believes in you
9.Something about where you live
10.A teacher or coach, and one thing they taught you
11.A small moment you want to remember
12.Something someone made by hand
13.A friend who stuck by you
14.Something about this season you love
15.A time someone forgave you
16.Something your family does together
17.A rule that keeps you safe
18.Someone far away you are thankful for
19.Something you did for someone else today
20.Something that made today better than yesterday

On a phone or tablet

A gratitude jar on your phone or tablet

No jar at hand, or away from home? Pick a picture or type a few words, and the slip drops into the jar. When someone needs cheering up, tap “Pull one out”.

Your jar

1. Pick a picture

2. Or a few words (a grown-up can type them)

The slips stay on this phone or tablet. They are kept in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere, and no account is needed.

In November

A Thanksgiving gratitude jar

Put the jar on the Thanksgiving table with slips and pencils. Each guest writes one thankful thing as they arrive, and little cousins draw or pick a picture slip. Over dessert, pass the jar around: everyone pulls one out and reads it, and the table guesses who wrote it. Thanksgiving is Thursday 26 November 2026.

Or start the jar on 1 November with one slip a day, and open it together on Thanksgiving. In Canada, Thanksgiving comes in October. And the jar works in every month: the book's box of gratitude has no season.

More for the table: “I am thankful for” boards to put at each place and a thankful tree.

Questions

Grown-ups ask

What do you write in a gratitude jar?

One thankful thing a slip: a person, a pet, a food, a place, a moment, something someone did for you. Small things are best ("Dad made pancakes"). Add who wrote it and the date, so a full jar becomes a little diary of good days. If nobody knows what to write, pull a prompt slip and answer it.

How does a gratitude jar work with a child who can't write yet?

They pick a picture slip or draw, and a grown-up writes their words on the back. Ask one question as it goes in: "who made that happen?". On a phone or tablet, the jar on this page has the same pictures.

How often should we add to the jar?

Once a day is plenty, at the same moment each day: dinner, after school or bedtime. Missing a day is fine. Some families add a few slips a week and read them all on Sunday.

What do we do when the jar is full?

Read them. The book's own idea is to take one out and read it when someone needs cheering up. Families also empty the jar together at Thanksgiving, on New Year's Eve or on a birthday, and keep the slips in an envelope.

Where are the slips on the phone or tablet jar saved?

Only in your browser, on that phone or tablet. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, and there's no account. If you clear the browser's data, the slips go too.

Do gratitude jars and journals really work for young kids?

We see them as family rituals and a way to talk, not a cure. Research with children ages 4 to 8 is thin, and a daily list on its own has not been shown to make young children happier. What researchers do find is that parents who talk about gratitude and show it tend to have more grateful children. So the talking matters more than the jar.

Is gratitude only for Thanksgiving?

No. Many families start in November, and Canada's Thanksgiving is in October, but a thankful moment works on any day of the year: at dinner, in the car or at bedtime.

More gratitude

Free tonight

Fall's 7 Thankful Nights

A short thankful moment at bedtime for 7 nights, with Fall and a gentle voice, on a phone or tablet. Night 1 is free and opens right away. If your child likes it, we can email you the other six, one a night.

Open night 1

Meet the book

Finding Gratitude

Our picture book for ages 4 to 8 · coming this October

Four siblings, the four seasons, meet for one snowy evening: Fall full of joy, Spring a bit annoyed, Summer melting away and Winter in a rush.

A story about the love that siblings share, and how Fall found gratitude by changing the way he looks at his days.

Fall, his siblings and every picture on these pages come from it. The book isn't out yet.

Try night 1 tonight