How to Teach Children the Art of Gratitude
Raising my two daughters, I have witnessed firsthand that teaching gratitude to children can be one of the most difficult challenges we have as parents. Waiting until November to share with our children how grateful they “should be” is waiting too long. Practicing the act of gratitude should happen every day. The best thing you can offer yourself, your family, and this world is to incorporate gratitude in your life.
If someone asked you to name all of the things you are grateful for, would you be able to do so?
Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t been as grateful as you’d like. Now is a perfect time to reflect. What do you want your children to know and understand about the art of gratitude?
The art of gratitude is a lifelong process to practice daily. Teaching basic manners to children when they are tiny tots is a given. Intentional practice guides our hearts and shifts our focus to the positive. It leaves little room to be consumed with negativity. Watching your children grow and fill their hearts with gratitude is one of the most beautiful experiences you may witness!
Model gratitude
Our children are always watching our actions. We must make sure we are good role models for them. Showing gratitude is such a simple act to exhibit. As adults, we often forget that our children are worthy of our thanks. Actively observe your language. Even when you are not feeling your best, be thankful. To help you get through challenging moments, pause, take a breath and express gratitude for the lessons you will learn.
We cannot expect children to show gratitude if it is not being expressed in their presence daily. Share with them often how you are happy to have them in your life. Have conversations about your home and how blessed you are to have a safe place to sleep. Stop criticizing your home for everything it is not. Verbalize being thankful for everything it is. It is a haven, a safe space for those you love.
Write it down
Journaling has become one of my favorite ways to express gratitude. Writing down events and sharing what I am thankful for helps me leave room to express gratitude. Our brains have a way of welcoming incessant thinking and chattering. Images, voices of previous conversations all linger in our minds. It seems to be a challenge to quiet our thoughts to concentrate on being thankful.
Teaching our children to write down what they appreciate most leaves room for days when they cannot find the words to be thankful or feel good about themselves. On those difficult days, your child can go back to look at what they previously wrote and have the reminder right there with them.
Please Note: If your child cannot write it down, you can do it for them or record them saying all they are grateful for on that day.
Gratitude projects
Practicing gratitude is more than just saying “Thank you” each day. Teaching children about the art of gratitude can be fun. There are creative ways you can help your children experience having a grateful heart. Spend time writing letters, coloring pictures, and gifting them to people in your life. This project can be for grandparents, teachers, friends. The options are limitless. My children enjoy writing thank you cards for our nation’s veterans. It can be a fun family project!
Give thanks to God
Find moments throughout the day to practice gratitude. Thank God for all things, big and small. When you make your bed in the morning, express gratitude for a peaceful sleep, for a bed to sleep in, for sheets. Those are examples of the small things we forget. We want to remember that He is worthy of many thank you’s!
Meet Patrice Hernandez
Patrice Hernandez is an entrepreneur, Hope*Writer, and teacher. She enjoys sharing magical moments in her life with hopes to show that no matter how big or small, we all experience beautiful moments each day. Moments that are filled with gratitude, love, and hope for all that we desire in life.
Patrice seeks to slow down and soak in all that the universe has to offer. She believes that life is beautiful and if we just all take the time to slow down and breathe, we will truly experience life versus letting it pass us by.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
