Holiday Journal Sticks
“It is not happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy.” – Anonymous
During the holiday season, invite your coworkers and/or the youth you work with to think about things they’re grateful for related to this time of year!
Time Needed: 10-15 minutes
Group Size: Any
Materials: Popsicle sticks with questions written on them (see sample questions below), paper, a writing utensil for each participant and a bucket
Directions:
Prior to your holiday get together, write questions on popsicle sticks (one question per stick) and place all sticks in a bucket. Make sure to have more sticks in the bucket than number of participants. Feel free to decorate your bucket with some holiday cheer, too!
Allow everyone to draw a stick from the bucket, and give them 15-30 seconds to think about their answer to the question provided. As soon as the allotted time has passed, ask them to share their answer with the rest of the group. Allow enough time for each participant to answer his/her question.
Once everyone shares, ask everyone to jot down what they said to keep as a reminder for a specific thing they’re thankful for this holiday season.
Sample Questions:
- What’s your favorite holiday memory and why?
- What movie gets you in the holiday spirit? How so?
- What is one of your favorite holiday traditions? Describe its meaning to you.
- What are you most grateful for during the holiday season and why?
- What was the most difficult moment you experienced during a holiday, and how did you get through it?
- What do you most want to remind people during this time of year?
- Who has been kindest to you during this season?
- What’s your favorite holiday story to tell?
We hope that you find this activity helpful in reflecting on holiday memories and identifying the things for which you are thankful. During this time of year (and always), GUIDE staff are thankful for you! Thank you for making our jobs a little bit brighter and merrier this holiday season.