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Thankful Chain with Bible Verses: 14 Days to Thanksgiving

A free printable thankful chain for kids. Add one paper link a day for 14 days before Thanksgiving, each with a KJV verse and a line to write your thanks.

All ages

Thankful Chain with Bible Verses: 14 Days to Thanksgiving

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Free to print and copy for your church, classroom, VBS and home. Please don't resell or re-post our files; link to the page instead.

Ages
Preschool (3–5), Early Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5), Whole Family
Time
2 minutes a day for 14 days
Scripture
Psalm 118:24; Psalm 103:2; Luke 17:15; James 1:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Psalm 107:1
Bible story
The Ten Lepers

What you need

  • The printed strips and heart (pages 2–3)
  • Fall-colored paper (or crayons to color the backs)
  • Scissors
  • A glue stick or tape
  • A pencil

Steps

  1. Print pages 2–3 on fall-colored paper, or print on white and let kids color the blank backs.
  2. Cut out the heart, color it, and set the strips aside.
  3. On day 1, cut out strip 1, read its verse together and write one thing you're thankful for on the line. Loop it into a ring with the words on the inside, glue the end marked GLUE, and glue the heart on top.
  4. Each day after, cut out the next strip, read the verse, write your thanks, and loop it through the last ring before you glue it.
  5. On Thanksgiving Day (strip 14) the chain is done. Before the meal, open the links one by one and read each verse and each thank-you aloud.

A thankful chain that grows one paper link a day for the 14 days before Thanksgiving. Each link has a King James verse about giving thanks to God and a line where your child writes (or draws) one thing they're thankful for. By Thanksgiving Day the chain is 14 links long, and the last link is 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In every thing give thanks."

A finished thankful chain: 14 orange, yellow, red and brown paper loops with a red paper heart at the top, on a wooden table with scissors, a glue stick and a pencil

What it looks like finished. The verses and the thank-yous are on the inside of the links.

The 14 verses

  • Day 1 · Psalm 118:24: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
  • Day 2 · Genesis 8:22: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
  • Day 3 · Psalm 103:2: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:”
  • Day 4 · Psalm 100:4: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
  • Day 5 · Psalm 69:30: “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
  • Day 6 · Colossians 3:15: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
  • Day 7 · Matthew 15:36: “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
  • Day 8 · Luke 17:15: “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,”
  • Day 9 · Philippians 4:6: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
  • Day 10 · James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
  • Day 11 · Psalm 9:1: “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”
  • Day 12 · 1 Corinthians 15:57: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
  • Day 13 · 2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”
  • Day 14 · 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Talk about it

Each day, ask: who gave you that? Every good gift comes from God (James 1:17). On day 8, read about the one leper who came back to thank Jesus in our ten lepers story, whose memory verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, is the last link of the chain.

Tips

Frequently asked questions

What is a thankful chain?

A paper chain that grows one link a day before Thanksgiving. On each link, a child writes one thing they're thankful for. On this chain, every link also has a King James verse about giving thanks to God.

When do we start the thankful chain?

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, so link 14 goes on on Thanksgiving Day. Starting late? Add two or three links a day until you catch up.

What if my child can't write yet?

Let them draw a picture on the line, or say their thanks while a grown-up writes it for them.

Can a whole class make one chain?

Yes. Print one set per child, add a link each Sunday in November, and join all the chains together on the classroom wall.

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