Gratitude For Children
Making thankfulness and gratitude a daily habit is beneficial for everyone, including our children.
We want our children to be appreciative and thoughtful, and teaching our children to attain an attitude of thankfulness will require repeated efforts over a long period of time, but it is well worth the effort.
A crucial point in teaching children about gratitude, is that children have to feel loved and cared for themselves, before they can really have concern for other’s feelings. Children must have their emotional needs met first before they can think beyond themselves and their own needs.
Keep a gratitude diary, in which only positive things are written down, keeping in mind the many things that we are blessed with on a daily basis. Our children can have their own journals, and if they can’t write, they can draw pictures.
Have your children make thank you cards and give the cards to someone special. Your children can write and/or verbalize thank-yous after they receive gifts and acts of kindness from others. This sets a good pattern of acting on thankfulness for the future.
And, of course, in order for our children to adopt an attitude of thankfulness, we must first have that attitude and model gracious manners and behavior ourselves, as adults. We need to focus on and be fortunate for what we have versus what we don’t have, and verbalize thankfulness. If we are constant complainers of bad fortune, our children will be, too, and will grow up with that attitude, as well.
We can model saying thank you to our spouses, family members, our children, and others. Remember to say thank you to your children when they have done something that you appreciate. We should accept and acknowledge our children’s hugs and kisses as forms of gratitude too.
We want our children to be appreciative and thoughtful, and teaching our children to attain an attitude of thankfulness will require repeated efforts over a long period of time, but it is well worth the effort.
A crucial point in teaching children about gratitude, is that children have to feel loved and cared for themselves, before they can really have concern for other’s feelings. Children must have their emotional needs met first before they can think beyond themselves and their own needs.
Keep a gratitude diary, in which only positive things are written down, keeping in mind the many things that we are blessed with on a daily basis. Our children can have their own journals, and if they can’t write, they can draw pictures.
Have your children make thank you cards and give the cards to someone special. Your children can write and/or verbalize thank-yous after they receive gifts and acts of kindness from others. This sets a good pattern of acting on thankfulness for the future.
And, of course, in order for our children to adopt an attitude of thankfulness, we must first have that attitude and model gracious manners and behavior ourselves, as adults. We need to focus on and be fortunate for what we have versus what we don’t have, and verbalize thankfulness. If we are constant complainers of bad fortune, our children will be, too, and will grow up with that attitude, as well.
We can model saying thank you to our spouses, family members, our children, and others. Remember to say thank you to your children when they have done something that you appreciate. We should accept and acknowledge our children’s hugs and kisses as forms of gratitude too.
posted by Margo @ 3:42 PM
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