How to Help Children Practice Gratitude in Everyday Life
The holiday season is a great time of the year to bring up gratitude and its’ importance in your household. Whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas, your children’s gratitude for the time they spend with family and the gifts that receive will be at the forefront of the celebrations.
Harvard Medical School defines gratitude as, “a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives… As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals–whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.”
Gratitude is very important. It can be used to form new relationships or to strengthen existing ones. You can be grateful for the people you have in your life, the comforts you afford, or for just simply being alive.
Gratitude is a selfless act that can be contagious, in a good way. If you write someone a thank you note or send them flowers during a hard time, they might do that for someone else in their life because of how good it made them feel.
If you want your child to express their gratitude more regularly, don’t worry! There are plenty of simple ways to incorporate expressing gratitude into your daily life.
1. Model Gratitude
Modeling gratitude is a great way for your child to learn how to express it more. Your children will watch your actions and mimic them, so if you showcase gratitude, ta da! When your children are near, make note to share with your partner, family members, or friends that you’re grateful for what they add to your life. You can also express gratitude through small gifts, hand-written notes or acts of reciprocity. When you’re sitting around the dinner table, take a moment to go around and ask each person three things they are grateful for that day.
2. Utilize Your Child’s Strengths
As your child grows, you will be able to identify their unique strengths. Encourage them to use those strengths as much as possible. When you consistently do something that is one of your strong suits or that you’re passionate about, it will be easy to express gratitude. Friends and family members can also encourage those strengths which will cultivate gratitude in your child as well.
3. Encourage Helping Others
Building off utilizing your child’s strengths, it’s important to encourage your child to help others. Your child can help others through one of their strong suits and is an easy extension of what they like to do anyway. Your child will feel more connected to the friends they’re helping which will nurture their social relationships. They can continue to strengthen those relationships by being thoughtful, helpful, and giving.
4. Help Your Child Find What Matters to Them
Helping your child find activities, movements, and values they believe in will help them think gratefully. Encouraging your child to learn everything they can about a social issue will help them see the bigger picture and the why of it all. If you are consistently thinking about how you can make a difference or contribute to the world, it will help children be able to express gratitude for the things they have.
5. Make Saying ‘Thank You’ Habitual
This is an easy one – and one you’re likely already doing. Encouraging children to make saying ‘thank you’ a habit will provide a natural bridge to feeling gracious. Make sure they say ‘thank you’ for gifts, food, and all the other things in life their community does for them.
6. Find Topical Literature
There is nothing like a good story to start a conversation about gratitude with your child. Incorporating books that teach about gratitude can be a great help. This is a great gift idea for your kids from you or other family members. When your child outgrows the picture books, you can gift them to friends or family or even donate them to continue the cycle of teaching our little ones about the importance of gratitude. Here is a list of books that teach kids gratitude.
If you notice your child is lacking gratitude this holiday season, don’t worry–there are plenty of ways to naturally encourage gratitude in your household.
If you need help teaching your child gratitude, please reach out to us. Our team of therapists is here to provide support and guidance. We look forward to connecting with you.
