10 Journal Prompts to Promote Gratitude Within Children

When it comes to children one key skill we can teach them is to be grateful for the little things in their life which joy and contentment.

Gratitude is a great way to help them be more appreciative of the things they have but also improve the way they feel. This practice has been shown to help nurture a more positive outlook on life.

So how do you help them to understand what gratitude is and to practice it more frequently? A good way to do this is through journaling. You can encourage children to journal in the evening and there are a few prompts that you can use to encourage them with this habit. Here are some of the best ones to try. 

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Write three things you are grateful for

This is one of the easiest journal prompts you can use and is perfect to get children to start opening up. They should find it pretty easy to come up with three things they are grateful for. 

Write about a person you love and why they are so special

Another quick option to consider is to get your little ones to write is to think about a person they love and pinpoint why they are so special. This can highlight qualities and focus on positivity. 

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What has been your favorite food today and why?

Sometimes it is good to identify and discuss the basics in our lives such as focusing on things like food. Kids often find this an easy one to write about, but it’s important for them to see this as a positive thing and not something everyone has so much access to.

How did you feel today?

Often it’s hard to find out how your child’s day went. We usually get the response, “Fine”. :-)

So this activity is a different option to gain insight from your little ones. They could write down how they felt today or draw a picture about it.

This can help them to understand their emotions, and reevaluate how they feel with your assistance.

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What good deed did you do today?

A lovely way to think about good deeds, however small, or to even encourage them to look at what they can do as a good deed in the future. Maybe make some suggestions and see if they follow up on these.

What good deed can you do tomorrow?

Just like the previous prompt, you can look ahead to what good deeds they can do which is a great way to focus on positivity. Maybe make some suggestions and see if they follow up on these. Or share what you will be doing and model the behaviour you would like to see.

Three things you loved about today

While this might be similar to the first prompt, this is more focused on the things that they loved. We do this at the dinner table each evening. We start, as parents and this tends to help them decide their choices as well.

Who are you thankful for today and why

A lovely way to encourage your little ones to be more grateful is to ask them to write about who they are thankful for today and why. It will help them to pinpoint reasons and perhaps look at how that person makes them feel. 

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Who made you feel good today?

This is a little more detailed and rather than focusing on who they are thankful for it can also look at who makes them feel good. 

This is a perfect way of helping them recognise good friendships and which of these friends to concentrate on and nurture relationships with.

What is your favourite thing today and why?

Last of all, this one focuses on just one thing that was their favourite thing that day and why it might have been. It helps them to look at which one thing gave them the most joy and why. Then you can recognise this and try and add more of this to other days.

We hope these journal prompts will give you inspiration for your little ones. We think they are a great place to start. We aim to inspire you and your children to create this brilliant habit which has been shown to be so good for mental health in children and adults alike.