Gratitude As a staff we recently had a chance to reflect on “Gratitude” and “What does this look like?” …for us…for children…for our community. I had read an article about Rod Soper and his research into Gratitude. We as staff watched “Playing with Gratitude”, which is an ECA free 1 hour Learning Hub Webinar. Background to our story… One of our Buderim volunteer firemen, Chris, had been the first fireman to an accident resulting in the death of a 4 year old near us. This event had played heavily on Chris’ mind. So, in relation to helping with the wellbeing of Chris, our gardener (also a volunteer Fireman) had asked Chris to come and help build our Yarning Circle. This was an act of caring. When Chris was at kindy, he asked staff “Please teach your children carpark safety, road safety and to always hold an adult’s hand.” We did this over the next few days. I related the reading material to Chris and what we as a community could do to acknowledge the work of others for us. SO…where to next? I bought a serving plate onto which a mum at kindy wrote our thoughts. We designed an explanatory card to be attached and to always accompany the Gratitude Plate. The children helped to make ANZAC biscuits to go on Chris’ plate. We talked about how important it is to say “Thank you” to others. Our Gratitude Plate is happily travelling through our community, sharing our words of Gratitude. We hope this kindness of thought and deed “fills many buckets” and keeps alive the processes of being Grateful to others. Our Gratitude Plate has its own Facebook Page which shares its journey. https://www.facebook.com/BuderimKindyGratitudePlate/