Thankfulness Journal

• Record blessings so you can read over them during hard times.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  A thankfulness journal provides an easy activity for counting your blessings on a daily basis. Both children and adults can keep thankfulness journals, though children will likely need help from parents when writing their blessings. Any store-bought or homemade journal will work for this activity. Simply take time to sit and list the blessings that came into your life during the previous day, week or even the entire year. New jobs, new romances, good grades or improved relationships are just a few of the many blessings that can be recorded in a thankfulness journal.
  
  

Children's Blessing Tree

• Construction paper is an affordable canvas for blessing tree crafts.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Allowing children to create their own blessing tree aids them in strengthening their sensory abilities, and it also helps them internalize the good things in their lives. Simply draw a tree, minus the leaves, on a piece of construction paper. Have your child paint leaves onto the tree with markers or finger paints. While the paint dries, ask your child to list things he likes doing, people he loves and gifts he has recently received. Write these pieces of information as the leaves on the tree, and explain to the child that these things are all blessings for which he can be thankful.
  
  

Adults Blessing Tree

• Bare tree limbs are easy to find in the fall.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  Adult blessing trees are perfect for Thanksgiving parties or other celebratory gatherings. Plant a bare tree limb with numerous branches vertically in a small pot. Cut out small leaves from construction paper. Poke a hole in each leaf, pull a small length of string through the hole and tie the string into a loop. Set the planted limb, leaves and markers in the foyer of your home. As guests arrive for your celebration, ask them to acknowledge their blessings by writing them on the leaves. Each leaf can then be hooked onto the tree limb via the thread loops. One your blessing tree is full of leaves, use the tree as a table centerpiece.
  
  

Gratitude Jar

• The Gratitude Jar is an activity for the whole family.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Adults and children alike can participate in the Gratitude Jar activity, which provides a visual symbol of the many blessings a family has received. Simply place a large jar, vase or bowl in a high-traffic area of the home. Set a number of paper slips, along with pens and pencils, beside the vessel. Ask family members to write down all the blessings for which they are grateful on a separate slip of paper, then place all the slips into the jar. Do not let anyone read the slips of paper until Thanksgiving dinner is served, or until a pivotal moment in another celebratory gathering. When the time is right, ask members of your family to pull a few slips out of the jar, and to read those slips aloud to the whole group.