The 80 Best Inspiring Gratitude Quotes for Kids

I am thrilled to share this inspiring and thought-provoking list of gratitude quotes for kids with you. Gratitude and thankfulness are things we all strive to teach our children. But life is busy for us all, and it’s easy to get caught up in the commotion of day-to-day life. So, remembering what is important—our family, friends, and community can be challenging.

The Importance of Gratitude

So often, nowadays, it feels like the world is falling apart around us. The news is bleak, and social media is loud. Every week or so, a new world disaster or local tragedy is trending on TikTok or Instagram.

Additionally, we can easily take on the weight of it all. We feel the heaviness of constant strife and conflict. It isn’t very encouraging, to say the least.

So, it can be challenging to see the goodness in life. More than ever, we must intentionally focus on the act of gratitude. Gratefulness isn’t something that should only be spoken about during the holidays. No. Living a life in the humbleness of gratitude shapes not only our hearts but the culture of our entire family.

What is the Difference Between Gratitude and Thankfulness?

Gratitude is hard to define for kids, and even adults have difficulty describing the difference between gratitude and thankfulness. The two words are often used interchangeably. And, often, they can appropriately be used as synonyms.

But gratitude is simply defined as the act of feeling thankful. That feeling of a full, satisfied, and peaceful heart. It is stopping and reflecting on the good things and contentment of life, big or small. For example, the taste of your favorite food, the scent of the rain, and the crisp autumn air as the leaves fall around us. It can be the purchase of a new home or the birth of a new family member.

The discipline of practicing gratitude is a good thing, but it takes time to develop a thankful and humble heart. There is no one right or wrong way to teach gratitude to our kids. It is something that is guided by our individual values and belief systems.

How Can We Teach Our Kids Gratitude?

How can we, as parents, teach our kids characteristics based on attitudes of the heart? Sometimes, there are formal curriculums designed to encourage thankfulness and gratitude.

However, we all know the most effective teaching method is modeling. Our children are always watching us, and our everyday attitudes and behaviors are what they will remember most.

How do we act during a stressful season of life? Or when the refrigerator breaks two months after replacing the hot water heater (Hi. This is me and my life.). Or someone takes that parking space we had our blinker on for. It’s the simple moments in life that influence the hearts of our children.

What is a Family Gratitude Journal?

If you want to focus more intensely on thankfulness, a gratitude journal is a great starting point. Together, our family started one and filled it up with thankful quotes throughout the year.

Having a family gratitude journal is a tangible way to see the growth of thankfulness and gratefulness in ourselves and our children. Plus, it is so fun to go back later and read what everyone said about each of the gratitude quotes for kids.

We use a blank journal. Then, we choose a favorite quote from the ample choices below and write it at the top of the page. Then, each family member shares what that specific quote brought to mind. It is exciting to see what each person said. There have been times when my kids shared things I hadn’t even thought of.

How to Have a Discussion About Gratitude Using Quotes and Prompts

If it is a quote from a favorite character, you can discuss how that character shows gratefulness in their story. If your chosen quote is from a notable figure from culture or history, read about their life and discuss whether they lead a life of thankfulness or not.

Furthermore, you have the option to buy an intentional gratitude journal. Most of these will have prompts you can go over with your kids. Thankfulness and gratitude are abstract things. And I’ve found that these open-ended questions are sometimes challenging for kids to answer. This is a great way to practice and get them thinking.

So, without further adieu, Below are beautiful quotes for kids to help you encourage and inspire your family with the power of gratitude among your family. These quotes were compiled from across the vast and wide internet from multiple sources. Each one was specially chosen for this list.

80 Gratitude Quotes for Kids

Quotes From Favorite Characters

1. How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard – A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
2. Sometimes, the smallest things take up the biggest room in your heart. – A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
3. A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference. – Eeyore, A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
4. Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits – A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)
5. I’m so glad I live in a world with Octobers. – Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
6. Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. – Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
7. Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it. – Lucy Maud Montogomery (Anne of Green Gables)
8. Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it…yet. – Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)
9. You have been my friend. Thank in itself is a tremendous thing. – E.B. Webb (Charlottes Web)
10. Sometimes, when you are surrounded by dirt… you’re a better witness to what is beautiful. – E.B. Webb (Charlotte’s Web) 
11. We all have different gifts, so we all have a different way of saying to the world who we are. – Fred Rogers
12. It’s not so much what we have in this world. It’s what we do with what we have. – Fred Rogers
13. You’ve made this day a special day by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are. – Fred Rogers
14. When you embrace your inner goofball, life is more exciting. – Bluey
15. Remember I am always here for you, even if you can’t see me, because I love you – Bluey (Chili)
16. Where there is life, there is hope. – Sesame Street (Grover)
17. It’s good to be alive. – Sesame Street (Cookie Monster)
18. Today, we will live in the moment unless it is unpleasant, in which case me will eat a cookie. – Sesame Street (Cookie Monster)
19. I’m just living the dream, Anna.  – Frozen 2 (Olaf)
20. This is my family. I found it all on my own. It’s a little broken but still good. – Lilo and Stitch (Stitch)
21.  Remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine. – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Snow White)
22. Life doesn’t give us a purpose. We give life purpose. – The Flash (DC Universe)
23.  As long as we are together, it doesn’t matter to me. – Madagascar (Marty)

Quotes From a Christian Perspective

24. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
25. Give thanks to the love, for He is good. His love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34
26.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. – Psalms 100:4
27.  God has promised to supply all our needs. What we don’t have now, we don’t need now. – Elizabeth Elliot
28. It’s not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness. – Charles Spurgeon
29.  Gratitude is the fairest blossom that springs from the soul. – Henry Ward Beecher
30.  Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. – Karl Barth 
31. The root of joy is gratefulness. – David Steindl-Rast
32. The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains finds comfort in nothing. – Hannah Whitall Smith

Quotes From Notable Figures

33.  Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. – Doris Day
34. This is a wonderful day. I have never seen this one before. – Maya Angelou
35. When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. – Maya Angelou
36.  No duty is more urgent than giving thanks. – James Allen
37. When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. – Willie Nelson
38. Enjoy the little things; for one day, you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault
39.  Gratitude and attitude are not challenges. They are choices. – Robert Braathe
40.  Gratitude is when a memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind. – Lionel Hampton
41. You cannot do kindness too soon because you never know how soon will be too late. – Ralph Waldo Emmerson
42.  Be thankful for what you have, and you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough – Oprah Winfrey
43.  The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. – Mary Davis
44. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. – Aesop
45. There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. – Ralph H. Blum
46.  Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
47. What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude. – Berne Brown 
48. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. – Melody Beattie
49.  There’s always flowers for those who want to see them. – Henri Matisse
50.  We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. – Cynthia Ozick
51. Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward
52. Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward
53.  Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude. – Louie Schwartzberg
54. If you want to find happiness, find gratitude. – Steve Maraboli
55. If the only prayer you said in your life was thank you, that would suffice. – Meister Eckhart
56.  Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul. – Amy Collette
57. Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. – Marcel Proust
58. When you are grateful, fear disappears, and abundance appears. – Tony Robbins
59. Learn to be thankful for what you already have while you pursue all that you want. – John Rohn
60. Remember that not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. – Dalai Lama
61. Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. – Ernest Hemingway
62. When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out, and the tide of love rushes in. – Kristin Armstrong
63. I cried because I had no shoes. Then, I met a man who had no feet. – Mahatma Gandhi
64. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, and understanding. – Alice Walker
65.  The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller
66. Gratitude is the appreciation of things not deserved, earned, or demanded – the wonderful things we take for granted. – Renee Paule
67. The greatest source of happiness is the ability to be grateful at all times. – Zig Ziglar
68.  Love those who appreciate you, and appreciate those who love you. – Connor Chalfant
69.  Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind. – Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
70.  We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorns have rose bushes. – Alphonse Karr (A Tour Round My Garden)
71. Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent to all others. – Cicero
72. My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus. – Stephen W. Hawking
73.  As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy

Quotes From Authors Unknown

74.  Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
75.  Thank you for waking me this morning; thank you for this and every day.
76.  Take time to appreciate what you have.
77. Instead of thinking, ‘‘I will be happy when’’ try thinking, “I will be happy now.” 
78.  Live simply. Dream big. Be grateful. Give love. Laugh lots.
79. The secret to being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of every day.
80. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

It’s the Simple Things

As I researched and compiled this list of gratitude quotes for kids, one overarching theme became apparent to me. It’s all about the simple things. Marcel Proust doesn’t say gratitude is rooted in great literature. No, for him, it is all about the people in his life. The most precious gift of gratitude made Doris Day feel rich, not fame and fortune. And the great Flash reminds us we are the ones that choose how to make the most of life.

Finally, writer and author Robert Brault tells us that life is made up of many small moments. Therefore, when we look back, we see how it was those moments that mattered. It’s not the things we had or the places we went. It was the moments in the everyday and mundane of life. And I think that is the vital takeaway of having an attitude of gratefulness.