During the week of Thanksgiving, many people look forward to spending time with family, enjoying good food, and remembering to be thankful for the things that they have in life.
We don’t go all out for the holiday, but the message of thankfulness is so important that we actively participate in sharing it. One of the lessons we try to instill in our daughter is the importance of showing gratitude.
The Benefits of Showing Gratitude
Gratitude can be defined as an intentional focus on appreciation. It can be shown as appreciation for your family, for your home, or for the food that you have to eat. In today’s economy, it’s especially important to understand because a lot of people are going without.
This lesson extends well beyond the Thanksgiving season, and there are actually many health benefits associated with practicing gratefulness.
Not only can practicing gratitude reduce stress but it can also keep you calm during difficult times. We’re extremely grateful to be able to have the home that we have and to enjoy nutritious home-cooked meals.
We feel it’s important for our daughter to not only know how to be grateful but also to extend patience and love to others because you never know what someone else could be dealing with.
Why Gratitude Matters for Kids
The practice of gratitude should begin early. Our daughter is two and a half and as she begins to interact more with other children and adults, we want her to show gratitude in those interactions. Children who are taught to be grateful become more empathetic and social. They also tend to be happier children who grow up to be happier adults.
A child who understands gratitude has a more positive outlook on life. Many people tend to focus on the negative and as the popular saying goes:
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
We are trying to raise our daughter to become someone who is generous, kind, and patient with others. Gratitude naturally falls into the traits that we want her to have and there are several simple methods that we use to encourage this mindset.
Simple Ways to Teach Gratitude
Teaching gratitude is simpler than you may think. We focus on teaching our daughter gratitude year-round by modeling it ourselves. We taught her early to say “Please” and “Thank You”. When she outgrows toys or clothes, we make a trip to the donation center and explain what we’re doing and how it can help someone else.
If your child is older, you can start a gratitude jar or journal where you write down the things you are grateful for and read through them as a family. Volunteering is also a great way to teach your kids gratitude, and the holiday season is the perfect time for volunteering.
Activities for Teaching Gratitude
There are tons of simple, fun ways that you can incorporate crafts and activities to teach gratefulness this week, or year-round such as:
- Doing a Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
- Making a Gratitude Tree
- Implement a “Thankful Thursday” or discuss what your thankful for over family dinner
- Make thank you cards during birthdays and holidays
- Do regular clothing/toy donations
There’s a variety of activities you can do depending on the age of your child. Keep it simple and focus on incorporating these lessons into your child’s routine for the highest chance of success.
Consistency is Key
Our daughter is not in childcare, and she doesn’t have siblings or family members the same age as her, so she doesn’t get to interact with other children a lot. Teaching her the value of gratitude can be difficult because she tends to get what she wants when she wants it.
When we decided to only have one child, we fully understood the potential challenges associated with it. We continue to reinforce the value of gratitude because we don’t want her to grow up to be entitled or materialistic.
By reinforcing good manners, modeling respect and politeness to our child, and being consistent with our message, we teach her the importance of gratefulness a little more every day.
Gratitude is a Lifelong Journey
As parents, we do what we can to raise our children to the best of our ability. If gratitude is something you want to instill in your child, here are a few things to remember:
- Be patient and consistent: gratitude is a mindset that takes time to build
- Incorporate these values into your daily routine
- Model them to your child in your words and actions
- Incorporate fun age age-appropriate activities and writing exercises
- Start small and enjoy the journey!
If you follow this guideline, you will have a great start in teaching your children the value of gratefulness!
Share your viewpoints on gratitude and if it’s something you strive to teach your children in the comments!
How do you achieve this? Do you have an activity you like or did you learn about some new ones from the post?
Until next time <3
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