Gratitude Jar

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify and document personal accomplishments or moments of gratitude from a shared experience into a portable physical keepsake.

Use it when: Use at the close of a multi-day training, completed project, or team milestone when participants need individual closure and a tangible record of accomplishments.

Skip it when: Skip during an ongoing crisis, during unresolved group conflict, or when participants lack common reference points.

Group arrangement: Individual writing followed by whole-group voluntary sharing

Timing: 15 minutes total matches the standard session band from the source materials.

Materials and tools

• One clean, wide-mouth jar or sturdy container per participant
• A small bundle of 6 to 10 paper strips per participant
• One pen or pencil per participant

Before participants arrive

1. Place one jar, a stack of paper strips, and a pen at each participant seat before the session starts.

Say this to open

Take a look at the jar and paper strips in front of you. We are going to take a few quiet minutes to close our program by looking back at what you achieved, contributed, or appreciated during our time together. You will write these observations down on your paper strips and store them in your jar.

How to run it

1. Introduce the reflection frame 2 minutes

   Explain the boundary of the reflection. Direct participants to focus on the work, collaboration, or events of the current program. Ask them to emphasize things they or their peers actually did or influenced rather than broad external conditions. For example, suggest noting a colleague who helped untangle a difficult problem or recognizing one's own persistence through a tough design draft, rather than writing that the weather was pleasant.

2. Write individual strips 5 minutes

   Instruct participants to work individually and write one complete accomplishment, moment of progress, or appreciation per slip of paper. Participants may write as few or as many slips as they wish during the time limit. Writing is strictly private. Once written, participants fold their slips and drop them into their individual jars.

3. Invite voluntary sharing 5 minutes

   Announce that the contents of every jar belong to the person who made it. Invite volunteers to share one item from their jar aloud with the room. Limit contributions to one brief point per volunteer so multiple voices can be heard. State clearly that reading an item aloud is optional.

4. Debrief the process 3 minutes

   Facilitate a brief group reflection on what it felt like to record achievements and gratitude. Call on two or three participants to answer one of the debrief questions, then remind everyone to take their jars home.

Debrief questions

• What was it like to identify accomplishments that were directly within your control?
• How did focusing on specific moments from this experience affect your perspective on the work we finished?
• When in your everyday routine might you open this jar or add another slip to it?

Finished output: A filled personal jar containing handwritten slips of accomplishments and gratitude for each participant to keep.

Remote

Ask participants beforehand to bring a glass jar, cup, or small box, along with several cut strips of paper and a pen. Run the writing timer for five minutes with cameras optional and microphones muted. For sharing, invite volunteers to either read one slip aloud on audio or paste one appreciation into the shared meeting chat. No one is required to post or read their reflections.

Hybrid

Ensure all in-person desks have the physical jars and paper while remote participants use their own jars or cups at home. Display a digital timer visible on the room screen and screen-share. When sharing, alternate between one in-person speaker and one remote contributor using mic or chat.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may draw, use single keywords, or keep blank folded slips in the jar.
• Anyone can decline to read their strips aloud without giving a reason, keeping their jar completely private.
• If writing is physically difficult, participants may type notes into a private personal device instead of using paper slips.

If the session gets stuck

A participant claims they have nothing to write about or cannot think of an accomplishment.

Offer low-stakes prompts such as showing up on time, completing a single routine task, or appreciating a quiet moment during a break. Remind them that even one slip is sufficient.

One participant takes significant time detailing an entire life story during the voluntary sharing phase.

Intervene politely by thanking them for that example and asking them to pause there so others have room to share a single slip before time expires.