As our last Project Gratitude post of 2013 (sniff, sniff), we are welcoming Devany from Still Playing School.  This idea is so much fun to keep reminding us all to say thank you for all the things we are blessed with daily and those who touch our lives.

I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have!  If you want to read all the Project Gratitude posts, click HERE.  I’m excited to do this again next year.  If you are a blogger and would like to participate next year, send me an email.  I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving Holiday and remember to hug all those who are dear to you.

My preschooler has spent all of November listing the big things she is thankful for including her family, her friends, and her stuffed animals!  She has listed them on turkey feathers and cut them out of magazines to make collages.

I love the month long focus on gratitude, yet I struggle with how to sprinkle thankfulness for the little things into our days the whole year through.  And so, the 100 Thank Yous Challenge was born!

E loves to count to “big” numbers so one hundred is impressive!  Our 100 Thank You’s Challenge chart helps to explain the quantity of the number.

 Every time we thanked someone we would mark a square in our chart.  I offered stickers, dot-a-dot markers, or coloring the numbers to check them off.  She choose smiley face stickers because, “thanking people makes them happy!”

We added stickers after thanking Daddy for doing the dishes and baby D for sharing his toys.  We took the chart with us when we left the house, too.  We thanked strangers for holding the door for us and our waitress for bringing our drinks.

For older children, predict how long it will take to fill the chart!  We completed ours as a family this time, but as the children get older they may each race to complete their own.  You can print the 100 Thank You Challenge chart here!

We’re planning to try this every few months to track if we get more efficient and thoughtful with our gratitude. We’re looking forward to using the charts to extend the theme of thankfulness the whole year through!

Learn more about Devany from Still Playing School:

I played school when I was little with my dad and my brother as my only students.  When I “grew up,” I got my Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education and taught kindergarten in both public and private schools with several more students.  Since I’ve had my daughter, E (age 3), I resigned from teaching to be a stay at home mom.  I started this blog to write about the playing and learning activities I do with her as she grows.  So I am still playing school and yet we are still playing while we learn!