Materials: Access to a place to walk, parent helpers for younger students
Activity: Students are guided on a walk, hopefully in nature. Each is given a small bag of trail mix or some snack they all enjoy. They share their gratitudes about observations, responding to the following questions: (1) what do you see that makes you feel thankful? (2) what do you hear that makes you feel thankful? (3) what do you smell that makes you feel grateful? (4) what do you taste that makes you feel grateful? (5) what do you touch that makes you feel grateful?
Directions: Explain that you will lead your class on a gratitude walk: “We will take a walk in silence. Why do I want you to be quiet? It’s so you can fully use your senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. As we walk, I want you to look, listen, touch, and smell, but not speak until I ask you to. When we stop, I will prompt you to look around for something you see that makes you feel grateful. Then I will ask you to share what it is and why it makes you feel grateful. We’ll keep going without talking, and when I ask you to stop, I will prompt you to share about what you hear that makes you feel grateful. It can be a song or voice in your head if you don’t hear something on the walk itself. We will continue and when we stop I will ask you to share about something that you smell that makes you feel grateful. If you don’t smell anything, think about a smell that makes you happy, at home, or somewhere else. Next, I’ll ask you to find something you can touch that feels good to you. If you don’t find anything, think about something at home that feels good when you touch it. At the end of the walk, you’ll take out your treat bag and very slowly eat the contents, savoring each bite. Let it stay in your mouth for 10 seconds, then take another bite. When we’re done, you can talk about how the treat made you feel (hopefully, it’ll make you feel happy and grateful!)
Wrap it up: “Sometimes we’re in such a big hurry that we forget to think about all the good things that we experience everyday. Today you used your 5 senses to see, hear, touch, feel, and smell the things that make you feel happy and grateful. If you didn’t find something on the walk, you remembered sensory experiences that made you feel good. I hope you can talk about today’s walk with your family, and maybe they’ll want you to take them on a gratitude walk!”
Materials: Access to a place to walk, parent helpers for younger students
Activity: Students are guided on a walk, hopefully in nature. Each is given a small bag of trail mix or some snack they all enjoy. They share their gratitudes about observations, responding to the following questions: (1) what do you see that makes you feel thankful? (2) what do you hear that makes you feel thankful? (3) what do you smell that makes you feel grateful? (4) what do you taste that makes you feel grateful? (5) what do you touch that makes you feel grateful?
Directions: Explain that you will lead your class on a gratitude walk: “We will take a walk in silence. Why do I want you to be quiet? It’s so you can fully use your senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. As we walk, I want you to look, listen, touch, and smell, but not speak until I ask you to. When we stop, I will prompt you to look around for something you see that makes you feel grateful. Then I will ask you to share what it is and why it makes you feel grateful. We’ll keep going without talking, and when I ask you to stop, I will prompt you to share about what you hear that makes you feel grateful. It can be a song or voice in your head if you don’t hear something on the walk itself. We will continue and when we stop I will ask you to share about something that you smell that makes you feel grateful. If you don’t smell anything, think about a smell that makes you happy, at home, or somewhere else. Next, I’ll ask you to find something you can touch that feels good to you. If you don’t find anything, think about something at home that feels good when you touch it. At the end of the walk, you’ll take out your treat bag and very slowly eat the contents, savoring each bite. Let it stay in your mouth for 10 seconds, then take another bite. When we’re done, you can talk about how the treat made you feel (hopefully, it’ll make you feel happy and grateful!)
Wrap it up: “Sometimes we’re in such a big hurry that we forget to think about all the good things that we experience everyday. Today you used your 5 senses to see, hear, touch, feel, and smell the things that make you feel happy and grateful. If you didn’t find something on the walk, you remembered sensory experiences that made you feel good. I hope you can talk about today’s walk with your family, and maybe they’ll want you to take them on a gratitude walk!”
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