The Thanksgiving Gratitude Box is a fabulous gratitude activity for children (and adults.)

Placing items in the box is a gratitude challenge that gives us time to count our blessings and be reminded of how much there is to be thankful for even if the year has been complicated and stressful.

The month of November is the perfect time to teach children a lesson in gratitude.

Actually, ANY MONTH is a great time but Thanksgiving gives us a gentle reminder that this is a necessary characteristic for well-rounded and compassionate children.

RELATED: Thanksgiving Craft: Gratitude Magnets

How to Make a Thanksgiving Gratitude Box

To make the Gratitude Box, you will need a few simple supplies:

• Clean tissue box
• Scissors
• Scrapbook paper
• Glue

To start, choose whether or not you need to remove the plastic cover from the tissue box. I chose to leave the plastic but having a larger opening could be helpful for younger children when placing their gratitude cards into the box.

Lay the tissue box against the scrapbook paper to measure where to cut the paper. Then, cut the scrapbook paper to fit the box.

Cut a line through the scrapbook paper where the opening of the tissue box is located. This will be the slot for placing the gratitude cards.

Glue the scrapbook paper to the tissue box and allow the glue to dry completely.

I cut one piece to fit over the box and then two smaller pieces to cover the sides. This created a gap along the edges that I did not like.

To cover the edges where the scrapbook paper met on the corners, I cut 1-inch strips from a coordinating scrapbook paper.

By folding the paper strips in half, I created a sharp edge to fit against the corners of the box. Then, I added glue to the inside of the strips to attach to the box.

If you want to include the children in the project, do it! Younger children can decorate the box with stickers. Older kiddos could probably do the entire project without help.

From the remaining scrapbook paper, cut smaller pieces to use for the daily gratitude notes.

Using the Gratitude Box as a Gratitude Challenge

Place the Thanksgiving Gratitude Box in a central location where it will not be overlooked.

Each day, every member of the family should write down one thing for which they are thankful and place it into the Thanksgiving Gratitude Box.

To make this Thanksgiving activity more of a Gratitude Challenge, you can set a theme for each day.

For instance, you might include a specific prompt for each day like:

• Favorite food
• Someone special
• Something you don’t like
• Something that makes you happy
• A fun memory
• A community servant or helper you know
• Someone at church, school, etc.
• Something that happened this year
• A place you like to go
• Someone who could use prayer
• A favorite memory

Keep the challenge simple by jotting down the ideas on a calendar or index cards.

RELATED: Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Making the Gratitude Box a Thanksgiving Game

If you would like to make the Gratitude Box a part of your Thanksgiving Day festivities, you can make the a game out of removing the cards.

With everyone gathered around, remove the notes one at a time and read them aloud. Ask children to guess who wrote which note.