• “With all this abundance, why do so many people struggle to find joy in their lives?”
• “Could it be that they don’t know how good they have it?”
• “How can we each help our children recognize all the good in their lives so they can grow into joyful adults who make the world a better place?”
• And, “How can people go beyond “practicing gratitude” as an occasional event and actually become “naturally grateful” at all times for all they have?”

We aim to answer those questions with everything we do in our business here at naturallygrateful.com. And we hope this fun, family-friendly gratitude game, can inspire you to become naturally grateful yourself!

WHAT IS THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE! GAME?

We’re fortunate to be “naturally grateful” people. But many people struggle with expressing gratitude and look for tools such as gratitude journals to help. Even when gratitude journals prove helpful, teaching gratitude to children requires more creative thinking.

Since teaching gratitude is high on the list in our homeschool anyway, we created this game to help us do just that. And we’re thrilled to share it with you.

The Gratitude Attitude! game includes over 100 questions you can print on index cards. The game is designed for one person to ask a question of a family member, friend, classmate, or colleague. Of course, you can play the game alone and just ask yourself the question too!

IS THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE! GAME FOR ADULTS OR CHILDREN?

The questions in the Gratitude Attitude! game are appropriate for all ages, and for all settings. In a family setting, these would be great questions to ask at the breakfast table before school or work, or at the dinner table when the family reconnects. By keeping the cards on the table (place them in a napkin holder 🙂 you’re always ready to express and teach gratitude.

Gratitude Attitude! is definitely an appropriate gratitude game for adults and teens. Asking these questions and listening to what others say is a great way to more deeply understand the things we have to be grateful for.

WHAT TYPES OF QUESTIONS ARE IN THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE! GAME?

The Gratitude Attitude! game isn’t a game in the sense that you keep score, or that there are winners and losers. It’s a question and answer game—a series of conversation starters to discuss gratitude in provocative ways. For instance, here’s an example of a provocative question in the game:

As you can see, many questions are designed not to simply remind yourself to be grateful for something vague. Rather, where possible we’ve included educational tidbits that should serve to remind us of how much convenience, support, and love we do have in the world.

Can the questions in the gratitude game be used as gratitude journal prompts?

Why not? After all, the idea of playing Gratitude Attitude! is to reflect on your life and all that enriches it. To remind yourself of all that you do have, rather than letting yourself focus on what you don’t have.

Take, for instance, this question from the gratitude game:

That’s an insightful question to ask in the game, and I’m sure you’d enjoy hearing someone’s response. But can’t it also serve as a prompt for your gratitude journal? Could it not inspire you to think of when you made someone laugh, or when someone made you laugh?

Of course it could. And there are a hundred other questions like this that could serve as prompts for your gratitude journal.

What does it mean to be “nATURALLY GRATEFUL?”

Do a search for “gratitude journal” on Amazon and you’ll get over 10,000 results (just look and see). Why is that? I believe there are two reasons:

1. Many people recognize how feeling grateful leads to feeling happy.
2. Many people struggle with how to feel grateful or express gratitude.

So they turn to gratitude journals, gratitude rocks, gratitude jars, gratitude notes for strangers, gratitude letters, and so on. I made a full-size gratitude tree in my office for my daughter and I to work on in homeschool.  And I even built my wife this forest meditation labyrinth in the woods for Mother’s Day.

Heck, the United Nations even created a World Gratitude Day (I bet you didn’t know about that!) every September.

Why the need for all this gratitude stuff? Because most people don’t feel grateful “naturally.” What we refer to as being “naturally grateful.”

It’s actually quite simple to be naturally grateful. It doesn’t require you to purchase a gratitude journal or anything, though if you enjoy that be our guest. What it does require is that you simply recognize where you are and what you have.

In the history of human civilization, you’re one of the few who live in a time of unprecedented convenience and safety. Doctors, grocery stores, jobs, service providers, and other conveniences are pretty much on every corner.

You likely have running water that is clean to drink. And indoor plumbing and an amazing box that keeps your food cold. And that box is powered by the magic of electricity. These are all things that most of humanity could have never imagined. Yet most of us enjoy them all—and take them for granted.

And that’s the solution right there. Recognizing that we’re taking all this bounty for granted is the first step on the road to becoming naturally grateful. And we hope this gratitude game can help you and those closest to you take that step.

CAN I USE THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE! GAME IN MY HOMESCHOOL OR CLASSROOM?

While Attitude Gratitude! is a great conversation deck for adults, it really shines when kids get involved. That can be around the dinner table, in your homeschool room, or in your classroom if you’re a teacher.

And we’ve made it easy for you!

• We’ve designed this game to print on Avery 5388 index cards. You can buy them here on Amazon if you’d like. Or, you can print the following pages on regular printer paper and simply cut them out.
• Once you print the cards, shuffle them and keep them handy.
• This game belongs on the Thanksgiving table for sure. But don’t just practice gratitude on holidays. The more you make expressing gratitude a daily event, the more you’ll become naturally grateful.
• The Gratitude Attitude! game is great to keep by the breakfast or dinner table for a quick Q&A round. Thinking about what you’re grateful for in the moment is a great way to start or end the day.
• Finally, this game is designed for two or more people, so that you can alternate asking questions to one another. But there is no reason why you can’t enjoy and play the game alone!

SHOULD I PLAY THIS GRATITUDE GAME ON THANKSGIVING?

Whether you live in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, or even Liberia, it’ll come as no surprise that this is a great gratitude game to play on Thanksgiving. What a great way to hear family and friends reflect on the past year and what they hope for in the future.

But, if you want to become naturally grateful, you can’t limit expressing thanks to one day a year. Sadly, that’s what happens as this chart from Google Trends makes clear:

I guess it’s no surprise that there’s a huge spike in the United States each October and November as people search on “gratitude.” Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be grateful. But this idea that we should be grateful once a year is at the heart of the problem.

It’s our hope that playing this gratitude game, Gratitude Attitude! will bring you happiness and help you to become naturally grateful. If you’re ready to start playing, you can get this gratitude game printable by completing this form. Then check your email for the download!