Kidoloo
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The Good Thing Jar

One small note a day about something good, folded into a jar.

For ages5y - 12y
Time available10 min
Prep5 min
Mess
Noise
YouYes, I will join in

Two minutes a day, and in three months you have a jar full of a year they would otherwise have forgotten.

What you need

  • a jar or box
  • small pieces of paper
  • a pen

How to do it

  1. Decorate a jar together and put it somewhere visible.
  2. Each evening, everyone writes one good thing from that day on a slip of paper.
  3. It must be specific. Not a nice day, but the bit where the dog fell in the pond.
  4. Fold it and drop it in without reading it aloud.
  5. Open the whole jar together on the last day of the month.

Why this is good for them

Being required to find one specific good detail changes what a child notices during the day, not just what they report at the end of it. Keeping the notes private until the end of the month also stops it becoming a performance for the adult.

Adapting by age

4 to 5 yearsThey draw it, or dictate it to you.
11 to 12 yearsAdd a second jar for things that were hard and what helped.

Keep it safe

None needed.

Cleanup tip

None.

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