5 Simple Ways to Teach Gratitude to Your Child in the Holidays

In this article you’ll learn 5 ways you could teach gratitude to your child in the holidays. And once again, the ideas are just as relevant for you.

1. Lead By Example

You don’t have to force kids to do it but you can model, for example, your own gratitude practice or perhaps meditation. If you have a routine, then you can ask your children to join in.

2. Dinner Table Reflections

A really good thing parents can do around the dinner table at night, is ask kids what’s the best thing that happened that day or what are you most grateful for today.

Rather than ask them closed questions like, ‘How was your day?’, ask questions that require more than one-word answers.

By asking for the ‘best’ thing, you are also focusing on the positives.

3. Mindful Eating

It could be as simple as eating watermelon.

“Feel the texture of it and really slowly bite into the watermelon; pay attention to how it tastes. Smell it, taste it, crunch into it”.

Talk through it all with your children. Sometimes we just eat so quickly that we don’t even appreciate what we are eating – this exercise is about talking through all the different senses and even appreciating all the people who played a part in bringing the watermelon to you.

4. Recognition Mission

The idea is that children look out for other children doing things for other people.

It’s a really good activity to develop appreciation for each other. It might be a bit fabricated at the start. However, the idea is they keep practicing it and, over time, it becomes part of their nature.

5. Make Good Use of Time Sitting Still

Use time sitting around, such as at the dinner table or travelling in the car, to talk about gratitude and positive reflection.

You can use these times to ask your child what they are grateful for and talk about what that means. If children are mindful of these little things in life, they really start to appreciate more. However, just like learning a skill in a sport you need to provide opportunities for your child to practice.