Teach Your Kids About Gratitude This Thanksgiving
Teaching your kids to be ‘Thankful’ is not only important but a necessity to make them a good human being. Being grateful is a powerful catalyst towards happiness that inspires us to put less focus on materialism and more towards all the good things in our lives.
By Sara Harris, Contributor
Happiness Coach
Gratitude is as important for kids as it is for adults. Studies reveals that cultivating gratitude can increase happiness, hope, empathy and kindness in children. By learning gratitude, they become sensitive to the feelings of others, developing empathy and other life skills along the way, says Barbara Lewis, author of What Do You Stand For? For Kids (Free Spirit Publishing, 2005). Moms across the world shared their opinion that grateful kids understand their parents and related ones do things for them that make them happy, for their well-being – prepare food, buy toys, outing, trips. Mothers also shared that kids with lack of gratitude, feels entitled, and unsatisfied.
When Do Kids start Understanding It
Infants as young as 15 to 18 months can begin to grasp that they are dependent and the person around them is doing everything for them to make them happy and satisfied by fulfilling their needs.
By the age of 2 and 3, kids start to get the feeling of being thankful for specific objects like specific toy or pets. If not by saying that loud, that try to show gratitude (at least the felling of it), by their actions like hugging, kissing, and following you everywhere like your tail. By age 4, they can understand being thankful for acts like love, care and not just material things.
If you think your kid is lacking gratefulness, worry not we are going to discuss some of the ways on how to teach being grateful.
Tips on how to teach gratitude
Children learn from their parents. Parents are their real superheroes, role models. They imitate what you do, so male sure to use “please” and say “thank you”, when you talk to them. Check that they are saying these words to you as well and if not insist on using these words.
Ask then to write a thank you note with their beautiful colors to a person who do things for them.
Inspire them to give something of special to those in need, Encourage them to give their own stuff from closet or any of the toy to a person in need.
Figure out a way so that they can actively participate in helping someone, even if it is as simple as giving water to a sick person. This can be achieved by encouraging them to participate in a Goodwill project.
Take kids help in simple and safe household chores like removing the dishes from the dish washer. Seeing your kid doing this can be disheartening but that helps them in realizing that all these things take effort.
Resist giving them too many things We to want to give our kids the best, but buying kids whatever they want, whenever they want, reduces the feeling of being blessed to have those things and value their possessions.
Be patient if you don’t see improvement, understand that a kid lacking this feeling can not develop gratitude overnight. It may take weeks, months or even years.
How to Use Thanksgiving Time with Kids
Here are some of the tips to model gratitude during thanksgiving holiday season:
Read Together and share educational story time with your children, Ask them to read or describe the picture based on their level of reading capabilities and comprehend things. Use this opportunity to ask them to describe things and explain them the importance of treating everyone with respect.
Check these book to get some ideas:
- The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving by Ann Mcgoven
- P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet by Carol Crane
Turn the television off during family time and try to use most of the time talking with family.
Create Something for Thanksgiving together with kids. Involve them in cooking, creating a craft, decorating the house, setting the table for meal.
Have fun with kids. Start a new tradition like going outside and playing a family game safe enough to involve kids. Do not get involved in activity where grown ups talk and play, while kids are dwelling around with toys, because this is what they do most of the time when not with family.
..
Thanksgiving is a holiday when family comes together to share love and give thanks to each other. Take this opportunity to explain it’s origin to your children in a creative way. Take the Big day slowly and make the best out of it.
