Are you curious to find out what’s in our Secret Something Bag?! In just a moment its contents will be revealed and it will give us some ideas on what we should thank God for.

I’m sure all of you have been thinking of activities for your students (or kiddos) that help them reflect upon what they are thankful for. This year I am working with the 3 year old class. Since they are young, I always try to think of play based centers to help them understand the concepts. This activity can be used in older grades too.

First, I read the book “Counting Blessings” by Debby Boone. It is about a little boy going around and counting all the blessings in his life and how it is the secret to happiness. It also talks about how when you realize blessings, you will want to be a blessing to someone else.

For this activity I looked through my kids toys and found some things to represent what we are thankful for. I had a dark bag with a draw string and called it the Secret Something Bag. Children love the element of surprise and will be more willing to participate when there is something “secret” to find. 🙂

As each child took something out, I gave the student a chance to tell everyone what the object represents. Then as a class we all said, “Thank you God for __________________.” This will help the students learn to say thank you to God whenever they think of blessings in their life, because “every good and perfect gift is from above.” James 1:17

When we are finished with that activity, I put the objects into the fall sensory bin. Doesn’t this look like so much fun?! Sometimes I can’t help but play in the sensory bin, too. I had some fake leaves, feathers, colored packing peanuts (found in the craft aisle) and pinecones. The children can sort through the bin to find the objects we are thankful for.  I always have some egg cartons or containers out so the kids can sort objects, which is an important math skill.

Once all the activities are finished, we came back to the carpet for review. I had each child say, “Thank you God for” and they had to name at least one thing they were thankful for. If they can’t think of anything, have the objects out on the carpet so they can come up with something to say. I hope that you have enjoyed this activity!