Gratitude At Mealtime, Everyday.

Although gratitude is something that most of us aspire to feel and celebrate year-round, it, of course, has a special place in our hearts this month. It’s the literal reason for the season, with the name of the holiday spelling it out for us: Thanks – giving. Still, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the details of planning, organizing, and indulging in goodies, only to realize that the holiday has passed, and we never intentionally discussed and expressed our gratitude. A solution? Create a fun family tradition as a way of making sure that the season never passes without time dedicated to being thankful.

Introducing The Grateful Game! Here’s how it works:
To get started, create a grateful jar for your family. You can use a mason jar, a clean, empty peanut butter jar, or any other container you have at your house. Spend some time together decorating the jar and making it personal to your family.

Next, download and print our grateful cards. There are 10 cards to a page, so you will need to assign someone in the family to cut these out.

Now you’re all ready! Here are some ideas for how to play, based on the age of your children. 

Preschool:

Grateful Traditions
To share the concept of being grateful with your younger kids, spend dinner one day this week talking about what being grateful means. Have each family member talk about what they are grateful for and write down three each to include in your family’s grateful jar. For younger children, help them brainstorm and write their three items. This is a great family tradition to replicate each year. Keep your grateful jars and as your kids get older, look back on what they said in past years.

Elementary age:

Grateful ABCs
Each night at dinner have one family member name something they are grateful for. Go around the table and have each person name something else they are grateful for that starts with the same letter of the alphabet. Some will be funny, some will be serious or sweet! Write the date on one slip and each person’s gratitude underneath. Place the slip in a bowl or jar on your table. The next time you play, someone else gets to start with a new slip and a new starting letter.

Teens:

Grateful Guess Who
Have each family member write down 5 things they are grateful for and place them in your family’s grateful jar. Each day at dinner, choose 2 – 3 grateful slips to discuss. Try to guess which family member added that item to the grateful jar, then spend time talking about why these things make each person grateful.

It’s as simple as that! And once you’ve begun the tradition, let us know your favorite gratitudes by sharing a photo of your grateful cards on Instagram. Tag @dreamdinners, #DDgratitude. Make it extra special by including your family or your meal in the photos!

Happy gaming, and know that in our Dream Dinners gratitude game, we’re thankful for each and every one of you in our community! Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours.