Exploring Gratitude with Your Child

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Gratitude is an important lesson to teach children as it can help them to value and appreciate their relationships. Aside from the more obvious benefits, gratitude can also help children to perform better at school as it can improve their mental health while making them feel more loved and connected to those around them. We have teamed up with a private school in Kent to share ways that you can explore gratitude with your child.

Say Thank You to Others

Saying thank you is the easiest way to express gratitude and doing so in your child’s presence will help them to pick up on this too. Make every effort to make it as sincere as possible to show your child how important it is to make others feel appreciated.

Show your Child Appreciation

Gratitude is easy to overlook when asking your child to do something but is just as important to do. This will teach them how to express gratitude and the importance of why one should.

Read Books About Gratitude

Children’s books cover a wide range of lessons and topics, including gratitude. This is something that you could utilise at story time to teach your child about gratitude, why it’s so important and the ways that they can display it. To name a few good ones there’s “Gratitude is My Superpower” by Alicia Ortego and “Thanks a Million” by Nikki Grimes.

Keep a Tally

A gratitude journal can help your child to actively reflect on the things that they have to be grateful for while creating a visual reminder of all the wonderful things they have. This can help them to feel love and connect with those around them while exercising mindfulness.

Give Back

This may also be an opportunity to teach your child about giving back and the ways that they can help those that need it. You can do this through a sponsored run, bake sale or by simply donating old clothes to children that need them.

Craft a Thank You

It's the thought behind a gift that makes it so special and sentimental. To say thank you in a way that touches someone’s heart, you can encourage your child to create a card or handmade present by hand.

Meditation

Meditation is good for mindfulness and can be used to explore gratitude with children. While following normal breathing exercises, get your child to think about those that they are thankful for and send positive energy their way. This will help them to exercise their gratitude while feeling calm and collected.