So you’ve got a gratitude journal but what about a gratitude board? A gratitude board can be fun and energizing. They’re a visual expression of what you’re grateful for while appealing to your visual senses. They may help you visualize what you’re grateful for and what you’re looking forward to.
The unique thing about a gratitude board is that there’s no right or wrong way. Your gratitude board could be digital and shared across a remote team at work, it could be one that only you look at, or it could be a gratitude board that’s put together by family members.
There’s so much freedom in a gratitude board and no matter what board you make, expressing gratitude is key. Additionally, there are so many wonderful benefits of gratitude – a study conducted by Harvard claimed that gratitude is consistently associated with greater happiness. In another study by Harvard Health, people who practiced gratitude daily had big health benefits – after they kept a gratitude journal for 2 months, they had lower levels of inflammatory hormones and a lower heart rate during a stressful exercise.
Also, if you are practicing gratitude, you are finding the positive things in life. By seeking out the positive things, you’ll spend less time on negative things. Once you build a habit of gratitude, it will become easy for you to constantly find the good things in life.
Gratitude is also a powerful tool for remaining in the present. You may see the wonderful things in life that are small that you sometimes take for granted.
By slowing down and being more present, people who practice gratitude exercises often experience more patience. In another study, people who chose to express gratitude regularly, made better decisions, and did not make impatient decisions.
The science of gratitude is truly amazing!
Step 1 – Deciding what kind of gratitude board you’d like to build
Before jumping in and making a gratitude board, we’d like you to think about the type of board you’d like to make. some people prefer a gratitude tree – this is a simple image of a tree and they hang their gratitude on the tree each month. Others might prefer a digital gratitude board over a “thankful tree”. Whatever you choose – we think it’s important to decide up front so you can get the right materials.
If you want something more simple, you can grab a large piece of paper (blank), write gratitude board across the top, and use sticky notes to acknowledge your gratitude on a daily basis.
If you’re struggling to decide what board to use – think to yourself, what kind of board would encourage me to practice gratitude daily? Another option is to use a digital board if you prefer. If you want to hang your gratitude board up so you view it first thing in the morning, go with a simple route.
Another thing to ask yourself is – who will contribute to this gratitude board? Maybe you start with a personal gratitude board and then start one with your co-workers. We will share examples of a gratitude board for your coworkers at the end of the post. For now we will take you through the step by step process of creating a personal gratitude board.
Quick Steps You May Want to Follow
1. Choose a board and some supplies
2. Decide on the layout of your board
3. Collect or create your gratitude images and words
4. Hang up your board and enjoy!
Choose a board and some supplies
It’s time to get gratitude-board making! gratitude boards are a fantastic way to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and bring more positive vibes into your life. Here’s what you’ll need to get started: a board (you can use a bulletin board, corkboard, or even a digital board), sticky notes, and some colorful pens. The First step is to schedule a day where you can go to 1-2 craft stores to purchase cute and fun craft supplies. If you’re making a digital board, set aside some time to create your digital board and buy some cute SVP images if you’d like!
Once you’ve gathered your materials, it’s time to start brainstorming. Starting thinking about the different colors you want to use, the different ways you want to write out your gratitude, if you want to use quotes or words, if you want to add gratitude photos, and what other creative ways that you’d like to express yourself.
Decide on the layout of your board
Deciding on the layout of your gratitude board is an important step in creating a space that is both visually appealing and functional. There are a few things to consider when choosing a layout, such as the number of gratitude categories you want to include, the size of your gratitude list, and whether or not you want to include gratitude quotes.
Once you have a general idea of the overall look you are going for, you can start to narrow down your options and choose a layout that best suits your needs.
Whatever layout you ultimately choose, make sure to allow enough space for daily gratitude entries as well as monthly gratitude reflections. With a little planning and forethought, you can create a gratitude board that will help you cultivate a attitude of gratitude all year long!
We mentioned a gratitude tree earlier but you can also make a gratitude flower where you add new flower petals each day, you can build your own collage with photos, images, and quotes, or you can utilize your social media channels.
If you choose a corkboard, you can pin thankful hearts daily with your daily gratitudes. No matter what you do – make sure that it’s your own personal gratitude practice. It should be reflective of you, how you like to express yourself, and make you super excited.
Using pinterest for a gratitude board is amazing and canva is a great tool as well. Once again, if you’re stumped – you can do a very simple gratitude board with sticky notes. All you need is colorful sticky notes and your board will look amazing!
Gratitude Category Ideas
Sometimes the best way to spark your creativity, is to break down your gratitude into categories. A few categories are health, friends + family + significant other, career, and community.
To ensure that you don’t run out of space for the month, plan out enough space for each day. Additionally, you may want to plan out if you’d like to contribute to all categories each day. Sometimes positive thinking can really energize you though – so if you need to expand your gratitude board, do it! Try not to be too hard on yourself here – you can be flexible with your board.
Collect or create your gratitude images and words
A gratitude board is a visual representation of the things, people, and experiences you are grateful for in your life. You can create your own gratitude board by collecting images and words that inspire feelings of thankfulness and appreciation.
You can find images for your gratitude board online and you can create your own quotes or grateful affirmations. Pinterest and Canva are great resources for finding images and quotes. Additionally, you can also find thank you notes and thank you cards to add to your board.
By taking the time to focus on the things you are grateful for, you can create a powerful reminder of all the good in your life. Sometimes you’ll realize that you’re the most grateful for the simple things in life and during your gratitude practice. You also may come up with new ideas and ways to express your gratitude while doing your daily practice.
Hang up your board and enjoy!
You’ve taken the time to create a gratitude board, and now it’s time to enjoy it! Make sure you hang it up in a place where you’ll see it every day.
That way, you can be reminded of what you’re grateful for and keep your goals top of mind. Every time you look at your board, take a moment to close your eyes and visualize yourself achieving your goals. The universe loves gratitude, so the more thankful you are for what you have, the more the universe will provide. Then hang up that board with confidence – knowing that you’re one step closer to making your dreams a reality.
Other Tips for You when Starting a Gratitude Board
When you just spin up a gratitude board, you may be thinking – how can I use this to have a positive impact on other people? Well, we suggest starting a gratitude board at work or suggesting a gratitude board for your children’s school. A Gratitude board is a super easy way to bring people together, express positive emotions, and boost overall morale.
If you are starting a gratitude board at work, you can ask team members to write down reasons why they are grateful for their coworkers. This could be as simple as a wall where people post sticky notes of who they are grateful for and why. Just remember to run this by the hr department before spinning something like this up at the workplace.
If you’re asked why you are creating a gratitude board, you can say that it’s a simple act that helps to build a positive workplace culture and the whole team can participate.
If you start a gratitude board at a school, you can use this for every grade level. It’s a great way to build a positive and empowering school community. If you want, you can choose to put a gratitude board in a common space or you can always post one in an individual classroom through a classroom gratitude book. Every different child will be able to contribute. This can be a simple way to teach children the power of gratitude.
Younger students may need some help thinking about ideas so feel free to use gratitude prompts. Once the children are in a routine, they will have a strong sense of gratitude for their school and classmates.
Other fun ideas include:
- Try a gratitude circle at Holiday events. Family and friends can stand together and say what their grateful for
- Try out a gratitude challenge with friends where each day you contribute to your gratitude board
- Research other gratitude wall ideas on social media platforms
- Try creating a gratitude letter if you are overflowing with gratitude and then paste it on your wall
- Create a challenge such as the 30 days of gratitude and ask your friends to join in
- Don’t just show your gratitude in the month of November – practice year around!
- If you do not want to use words on your board, you can post pictures of things you appreciate
- Try out a gratitude jar and when you’re feeling sad, pull out all the things you put into the jar – it will be a nice pick me up!!
Final Thoughts
We hope you love this idea of a gratitude board and start using it in your life! Starting each day with gratitude is a wonderful way to put great energy into the world and let the universe know that you are always ready to accept wonderful things! Let us know if you created a gratitude wall and how it’s going!