Meet "Grateful"
The Warm Fuzzy of Gratitude 
Free Counselor Guidance Lesson

Below is a school counselor guidance lesson on "Gratitude". It is the story of two "Warm Fuzzy Friends". One is named "Grateful" and the other is named "Thankless". I use this story for kindergarten to fifth grade. My students love the warm fuzzy friends collection and enjoy learning from the characters in the story.  

 

School Counselor Story on Gratitude

The Story of "Grateful "and "Thankless"

By: Dr. Michelle Stangline

© Copyright 2013 by Creative Counseling 101.com

This is the story about two warm fuzzy friends named Grateful and Thankless. They both lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, had the same teacher, and hung out with the same friends.

Grateful and Thankless had a lot in common. But even though they lived in similar surroundings, they each saw the world in a completely different way.

When Grateful woke up in the morning he notices the sun shinning and heard the birds singing. He always thanked his mom when she cooked a healthy breakfast for him to eat before school.

Thankless woke up to the same morning that Grateful woke up to. However, he told himself he hated mornings and that the singing birds were annoying. He hated eating breakfast and often was rude to his mother when she made him eat.

When both warm fuzzy friends got on the bus Grateful saw it as an opportunity to visit with everyone. He smiled at the bus driver and said hello.

Thankless looked at the bus driver each morning and scrunched his face in a scowl. The bus driver usually just ignored him. Thankless pretended to be sleeping during the entire bus ride to school. He thought the bus smelled too!

When Grateful arrived at school he greeted the teacher and principal with a cheery “hello”. Thankless just grumbled something under his breath as he walked into the building.

 

During the day Grateful listened to his teacher. He was so excited to learn about science, math, and social studies. Thankless thought that everything the teacher taught was just plain boring.

At lunch time, Grateful thanked the lunch ladies in the cafeteria for giving him a warm meal. He ate almost all of his lunch and thought of how lucky he was to have healthy food.

Thankless picked at his food and threw some of his broccoli at another student. When it was time to get up he threw most of his lunch away in the garbage can.

At recess, Grateful ran around and played with the other warm fuzzy friends. He thought how wonderful the fresh air and sunshine was. He loved playing outside and spending time with friends.

Thankless just kicked the dirt around at recess. Sometimes, he bullied a student or two. It made him feel better to make someone else sad.

At the end of the day both warm fuzzies went home. Grateful did his homework right away and asked his mom if he could help set the table for dinner. Thankless went to his room to play Xbox and ignored his mom when she called him to come to dinner.

Both warm fuzzies went to bed and had dreams that night. Grateful had happy dreams. Thankless had nightmares.

Why do you think that Grateful had a happy life and Thankless did not?

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See Other School Counselor Guidance Lessons on Warm Fuzzies

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*If you ignore the disclaimer above are using these techniques on yourself and you feel any discomfort or upset it is highly suggested that you seek out a licensed  mental health professional immediately.

"Beyond Art Therapy" is the concept from Dr. Stangline that combines all creative fields in therapy. It is not the traditional "art therapy" but goes beyond to include sand tray therapy, play therapy, mindfulness, meditation, color therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a vast majority of other therapies.

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