Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
published August 3, 2022
photo by Michael Morse on Pexels
by Jana York, adapted from Teaching Mindfulness: A Guidebook for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Caregivers by Amoneeta Beckstein with Jana York
Teaching mindfulness to children allows them to be present (not in the past or future), to be aware of their surroundings with fullness, and to enjoy their innate capacity to be curious.
Sometimes children need to channel their energy with an activity that helps them learn on the go. The gratitude scavenger hunt can also be a fun and engaging exercise for physical education teachers to use.
Instructions for the Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Getting a break from our busy mind full of thoughts and emotions and leaning into our senses is a great way to step into the present. We can get stuck on autopilot with routines, and we begin to not notice or appreciate what is around us.
Have students find the items in their midst and write down what they notice. They can share the list with their peers or keep it for themselves. Remind them to list why it made them feel grateful.
1. Find something you enjoy seeing with your eyes.
2. Find something you can hear that you have never heard before.
3. Find something you know someone else will enjoy.
4. Find something that makes you feel safe.
5. Find something that makes you smile or laugh.
6. Find something that is useful to you.
7. Find something that makes you feel calm or relaxed.
8. Find something you enjoy doing with your friends or classmates.
9. Find something not on the list you want to note or share that makes you feel grateful.
Enjoy!
There are many options for a gratitude scavenger hunt so use your creativity and have fun.
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt from Teaching Mindfulness: A Guidebook for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Caregivers by Amoneeta Beckstein with Jana York. © Amoneeta Beckstein, 2022. Used with permission.
Once while teaching this activity to a small group of girls that had different countries of origin (with English as their second and sometimes third language), one of the students became distressed and asked if I could help.
The student was embarrassed because she could not remember how to spell the object she enjoyed seeing with her eyes. I knew that she liked to draw because she always drew a picture next to her name when she turned in her assignments. I asked her to consider a few options. She could either draw a picture of the object or attach the object to her worksheet. She decided to do both and asked if she could share it with the class.
Her artwork and expression were beautiful describing it in full detail from the vibrant colors to the intricate lines or ‘plant veins’ as she called them of the new fallen leaf.
On that day or even for just a moment one girl discovered mindfulness and for that I am grateful!
About the Author
Jana York is a Certified Mindfulness and Meditation teacher and has been a mindfulness practitioner and children’s mindfulness educator for more than a decade. She has conducted research and written on mindfulness. Her main passion is teaching children how to reduce anxiety and self-regulate while being in the present moment.
Ms. York is the author of U-Is for Understanding – Claire’s Journey toward Mindfulness, a storytelling approach based on an eight-year old’s journey of learning mindfulness in her school. The book contains more than 30 activities to introduce mindfulness, social emotional learning, awareness, self-regulation, and gratitude.
Related Posts
There are many other resources here at MindfulTeachers.org on practicing and teaching gratitude, including the following posts:
Also be sure to see these posts by Jana York: