How to Start a Thankful Jar This Thanksgiving Season
As moms, we know how chaotic life can get…
Life is especially chaotic around the holidays! Between prepping meals, coordinating family plans, and keeping up with the mental load of motherhood, it’s easy to forget to slow down and appreciate the little things. That’s why starting a Thankful Jar can be such an easy but meaningful way to bring a little calm and gratitude into the season. It’s a fun family tradition that reminds us all to take a moment to reflect on what really matters. So, if you’re looking for an easy, heartwarming way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your kids, keep reading to learn how to start your own Thankful Jar this year!
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How to Make a Thankful Jar
When my oldest was a toddler we made a Thankful Turkey which was so cute! I wanted to try a new thankful activity this year…something that would be nice to display, involve the whole family, and be incorporated in our Thanksgiving celebration. I have many mason jars lying around so I thought a Thankful Jar would be a great idea. It’s easy to set up and you probably already have the supplies lying around!
Materials needed:
- A mason jar, big glass, or anything else that could hold a bunch of paper slips
- Construction paper
- Pens or markers
- Scissors
- Glue stick or scotch tape
- Optional – decorations for the jar (stickers, gems, etc.)
Step 1 – Choose a jar.
The first step is choosing the type of jar you want. I went with a mason jar since I already had a few. You can also go with a large glass, bowl, basket, or anything else you can think of that will hold a bunch of paper slips.
Step 2 – Decorate the Thankful Jar.
The next step is to decorate your Thankful Jar. You can go as simple or as detailed as you like! I decided to make a flower in fall colors. Using construction paper and a scissor, I cut out a brown circle, as well as red, orange, and yellow petals. I glued the petals to the brown circle to create the flower. Then, taped the flower to the mason jar. I also wrote “Our Thankful Jar” on the brown circle.
You can search for “thankful jar” or “gratitude jar” to get some other ideas for how to decorate yours. I wanted to keep it relatively simple and not cover up the jar too much so you see the different colored paper slips once we start dropping them inside.
You can also let your children help decorate, even if it’s just adding some stickers!
Step 3 – Prepare Thankful Jar slips.
Next, I prepared our paper slips in advance, just to make things easier. I cut out around 50-60 slips of construction paper in colors that coordinated with the flower I made – brown, red, orange, and yellow. I put them in a ziploc bag so we can just grab one and write on it when we’re ready to start using our Thankful Jar.
Step 4 – Display the Thankful Jar.
The next step is to find a spot to display your Thankful Jar. Choose a spot where everyone will see it and be reminded to participate in the activity. It’s also a pretty decoration! I have mine on our kitchen island.
Step 5 – Incorporate the Thankful Jar into your family’s Thanksgiving.
The final step is to decide how you want to incorporate your Thankful Jar into your family’s Thanksgiving celebration. We’re going to start using ours on November 1st, and each day at least one of us will write down something we are thankful for and drop it in the jar. On Thanksgiving we’re going to take turns reading the paper slips out loud.
There’s no right or wrong way to use a Thankful Jar, so feel free to create your own family tradition! You can even consider keeping the tradition going and use one all year long.
Why start a Thankful Jar?
Starting a Thankful Jar can bring many benefits to both you and your family. It helps you be a fun mom, slow down, and appreciate the small things, especially when life gets crazy during the holiday season. Here are some reasons to make one part of your family’s Thanksgiving tradition:
- Teaches gratitude: A Thankful Jar is an easy way to shift the focus from things that are missing to what we do have. It’s a simple reminder for both adults and children to be grateful for all the good things in our lives, no matter how big or small they are.
- Creates stronger family connections: A Thankful Jar, especially at the time the thankful slips are read, helps spark meaningful conversations. By hearing what our family members are thankful for, we learn more about their thoughts and feelings, creating deeper connections.
- Encourages mindfulness to children: It’s a fun way to teach our children to appreciate what they have. The kids are involved since they’re filling out their own thankful slips, and they learn to focus more on the positives than the negatives. That’s an important lesson in this day and age.
- Adds special meaning to the holiday: The holidays come with lots of craziness – meal planning, decorations, chaos – but a Thankful Jar brings the focus back to what’s really important, such as gratitude and family.
- Creates a lasting memory: If you save your jar, it can be something sweet to revisit years down the road to see what you had been grateful for this particular year. You all may have a lot of laughs looking back too!
Thanksgiving is more than just turkey and pumpkin pie.
Starting a Thankful Jar is such a simple way to embrace the true meaning of the holiday —gratitude. This tradition can create moments of reflection and bring everyone closer together. Plus, it’s a fun, creative project that helps turn the everyday chaos of mom life into something more mindful and meaningful. A thankful jar can even be repurposed for other holidays such as a family Valentine’s Day mailbox!
So grab a jar, some paper, and start jotting down those little blessings. You’ll be amazed at how this small practice can make your Thanksgiving season—and even the days beyond—feel a little more joyful.
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