The Greater Good Science Center launched the Youth Gratitude Project (YGP) as part of the broader Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude, a multiyear project funded by the John Templeton Foundation. In addition to advancing the knowledge of how to measure and develop gratitude in children, the YGP created and tested a new gratitude curriculum for middle and high schoolers.

The main idea of the YGP curriculum is that varied gratitude practices should help students feel more socially competent and connected, be more satisfied with school, have better mental health and emotional well-being, and be more motivated about school and their future. Preliminary evidence for the effects of the gratitude curriculum indicate that it is helping to decrease depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior and increase hope, emotional regulation, and search for purpose.

This curriculum features four lessons to help students understand the meaning of gratitude and how to cultivate it in their everyday lives.