A gratitude jar is a great way to get children into the habit of being grateful and constantly giving thanks to Allah, Azza wa jal.

Allah subhaanahu wa taa’ala created us to worship Him and to give thanks! Giving thanks and showing gratitude is a very significant act of worship, and Allaah is pleased with us so long as we are being grateful to Him for all our blessings.

A gratitude jar is a great way of instilling the habit of gratitude in your child or students so that it can become a regular part of their character. Ramadan is a great time to start, but you can continue to use the gratitude jar through out the year.

In this activity, children will create their own gratitude jar. And each day they will write down one thing they are grateful for and place it in their jar. The idea is to get them thinking about all the little things they take for granted, while at the same time developing a positive and reflective mindset.

Start the lesson off with all the benefits and virtues of gratitude, and then students can start decorating their jars. Lesson plan details and talking points can be found in the download link below.

Possible substitutes for jars: box, notebook, plastic container, tin, yogurt tub, ziplock bag etc.

Download Lesson & Resource HERE.

Lesson Extension Ideas:

  • Everyday students share one thing they are grateful for at the start of the learning day
  • Do a research project to investigate the personal health and spiritual benefits of practicing gratitude
  • Find relevant verses, hadiths, and statements of past scholars on the topic of gratitude (suitable to age/grade group)
  • Keep a gratitude journal and after a month document changes in their lives or thinking
  • Select one blessing they’re grateful for and start a project to help a less fortunate person/people who don’t have that blessing

This was an activity station during a welcoming Ramadan workshop I held a couple of years ago. We had 4 stations, and at each station students worked on a project that they could take home and use throughout the entire month.

  1. Build Your Own Calendar
  2. Design a Mushaf cover
  3. Create a Good Deed Date Palm Tree
  4. Create a Gratitude Jar

Comment below when you finish, and tag us on instagram to show us your little one’s work! @makkahcentriceducation