Teach Beside Me

Educate Creatively- Hands-on teaching ideas

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Podcast
  • Teaching Ideas
    • Art
    • History
    • Homeschooling
    • Language Arts
    • Math
    • Preschool
    • Science
  • Shop
    • Checkout
    • Cart
    • My Account
    • Membership

Autumn craft Family Hands-On Learning Holidays Learning Games Life Skills Parenting Play Printable Religion Toys

The Gratitude Game: Pick-Up Sticks

  • Share
  • Tweet

This post may contain affiliate links.

Teaching gratitude is at the top of my list for my kids.  I love to do things to remind my kids of the many blessings we have. There is so much in our lives to be thankful for. I created this little Gratitude Game to play with them this Fall for the Thanksgiving season, and we have been having loads of fun with it! But this can be done at ANY time of year, not just Thanksgiving time!

The gratitude game

 

What is The Gratitude Game?

Did you ever play the game Pick-up Sticks as a kid? (Also called  jackstraws, or spillikins)   This is a homemade version of Pick-up Sticks, with a twist.

 

You can watch us play it here:

 

With this game, each time you pick up a stick you have to name something you are grateful for. Each color represents a different type of thing. It’s a great way to get the kids really thinking in different ways about all that they can be grateful for!

homemade-pick-up-sticks-gratitude-game

To play, you hold all of the sticks in your hand and drop them They will fall randomly and that is great. Then each player takes a turn pulling a stick from the pile. You cannot make any other sticks move or you lose your turn and do not get to collect the stick. The player with the most sticks at the end of the game wins.

 

kids playing the gratitude game

Grab a printable version of the game instructions by subscribing now.   Then check your email for the download!

 

 

the-gratitude-game

To play it as The Gratitude Game, each color represents a type of thing you are grateful for.  These were our categories, but you can modify them if you want:

gratitude-game-instructions

Grab this as a printable in my subscriber library! 

Red Sticks: People you are thankful for

Orange Sticks: Places you are thankful for

Green Sticks: Foods you are thankful for

Blue Sticks: Things you are thankful for

Purple Sticks: Miscellaneous- Your choice of something you are thankful for

 

The Gratitude Game

 

How to Make the Gratitude Game:

I made this with chopsticks that we painted. If you don’t want to paint them, try it with colored paper straws instead, like I did in this post. I bought a big pack in bulk for various projects that we are doing. We painted the sticks with watercolor paints, but you could use any kind of paint that you want. If you want a brighter color of paint, use an acrylic or tempera paint. We painted 10 of each color of stick for a total of 50. The watercolors needed 2 coats to be dark enough.  My kids really enjoyed painting the sticks!

This has been a fun activity that we have used multiple times.  Try this cute version with Skittles over at Planning Playtime.

Want more activities like this?

Thanksgiving Tradition: Legend of Five Kernels of Corn

See my new Printable Gratitude Journal

Check out my Acts of Kindness Coloring Notes.

You may also like my post on Teaching Kids to Serve.

Or my post on Acts of Kindness Kids Can Do.

Want more fun Thankgiving activities for kids?

Check out our Turkey Tail Feather Tag post.

Thanksgiving Turkey Tag- game for kids

We LOVE these Thanksgiving Dinner Scratch-Off Cards, too!

Thanksgiving Writing Activity

Thankful Jar!

This is the Feast Story Sticks.

Thanksgiving Conversation Starters

Thanksgiving Math: Counting Turkey Feathers

Thanksgiving Turkey Activity Pages

 

Pair it with a book on being thankful:  Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson.

Bear Says Thanks

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Did You Know? Conversation Starters for Kids
Presidential Election Voting Lesson for Kids


11 Comments

« Presidential Election Voting Lesson for Kids
Did You Know? Conversation Starters for Kids »

Comments

  1. JDaniel4's Mom says

    November 7, 2016 at 8:58 am

    This would be great to play at the kid’s table on Thanksgiving Day!

    Reply
  2. Cerys says

    November 8, 2016 at 3:30 am

    What a great way to talk about things that we are grateful for with the kids.

    Reply
  3. Laura Hickman says

    November 17, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    I’m going to play this with my grandkids. What a great idea. I like the chopsticks, they seem easier to use than the cheap plastic at the store. Well done.

    Reply
    • Karyn Tripp says

      November 17, 2016 at 7:25 pm

      Glad you like it! Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Alicia says

    November 20, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    This is such a great idea! I plan on using this with my class this week!
    Thanks for a great idea to show and think about gratitude!

    Reply
  5. Cassie says

    November 20, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    Cute idea! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely be using it with my kids this week!

    Reply
  6. Diana Bishop says

    November 12, 2019 at 7:03 pm

    Love this and look forward to using it .

    Reply
  7. barb says

    November 12, 2020 at 5:51 pm

    Looks fun!

    Reply
  8. Autumn Brooke says

    October 5, 2021 at 10:39 pm

    What a sweet idea. A bit more fun than a gratitude journal.

    Reply
  9. Lynette McMorland says

    November 9, 2021 at 10:21 am

    This activity is just what I am looking for in my first grade religion class

    Reply
  10. Rita says

    November 16, 2022 at 7:20 am

    Thank you for all you do! It is amazing!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi! I'm Karyn.
I am a former teacher turned homeschool mom of four kids. I LOVE teaching! I believe learning should be enjoyable and engaging. My goal is to ease the burdens of educators by offering memorable learning activities.
Questions? Contact me here: karyn@teachbesideme.com
Learn More >>>

Math Art + Drawing Games

Math Art + Drawing Games

Science Art + Drawing Games

Science Art + Drawing Games

Copyright © 2023 · Designed by Monique B Designs

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in · Privacy