Help families express gratefulness this Thanksgiving. Use this idea to put kids in charge of the Thanksgiving table—leading their families in saying thanks!

“Let’s go around and say one thing we’re each thankful for.”

Ever heard that before?

It’s a great start, but a grateful heart goes so much deeper. This year, help families explore what it means to be thankful in a fresh way. With this idea, kids get to be in charge of sharing thanks at the family meal! Empowering kids not only lets them practice verbalizing gratitude—it helps them develop leadership skills (even at home).

So here’s a simple, Thanksgiving-themed way to let kids take charge of giving thanks. Share it with families in your church!

Each Family Will Need:

• thankfulness “sparks” printouts
• colorful paper
• scissors
• crayons and markers
• paper coffee cups with lids
• stickers

Kids Lead Families in Being Grateful

Have fun sparking family discussions filled with gratitude, as you empower kids to lead and engage in faith conversations.

1. Print out the thankfulness “sparks” on colorful paper. Make one copy per kid.
2. Let kids cut apart the sentences, color them, and fold each one in half.
3. Hand out paper coffee cups with lids. Let kids use stickers or crayons to decorate the outside of the cups.
4. Kids can drop their slips of paper in the cups, snap on the lids, and take them home.
5. Then, around the table, kids can take turns pulling out a thankfulness spark and asking everyone at the table to join in the feast of gratitude!

More Thankfulness Inspiration

You can also email families this link to Spotify for an hour’s worth of free, faith-focused, kid-friendly music, all with a theme of thanksgiving and praise! Or have families check out Group’s buddy book Good, Gooder, Goodest! Thank You, God! which is packed with vibrant illustrations and relationship-reinforcing Bible truths that encourage kids to be thankful for all they have.

Looking for something bigger? Check out this idea for bringing families together for a Thanksgiving gathering event!

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Looking for more Thanksgiving ideas? Check out these articles!