How to teach children gratitude

Teaching kids to be grateful is one sure way to help them become better human beings and the best version of themselves, at least that was revealed in a study conducted in 2019 published in the "Journal of happiness studies".

According to the journal, the study suggested that gratitude is linked to happiness in children as early as 5 years.

Another study published in 2008 by the "Journal of school psychology" also showed that kids from ages 11 to 13 who have been taught to be grateful have a better social life and are happier.

After analyzing these two journals, there is a clear indication of why teaching your children to be grateful can do them much more good than harm.

With this information on our hands now, one may ask, how do you teach your children to be grateful?

Well, you are in luck because that is mainly the purpose of this write-up.

We will be discussing the best tips you can use to teach your kids to be grateful to help them become better adults in any society when they grow up.

However, before we start looking at the tips to teach your children to be grateful, we will try and help answer some common questions related to this topic.

Importance of teaching children gratitude

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1    Boosts positive emotions;

Being grateful can help change your mood into a better one, and so could it be for your kids too. Saying "thank you" tends to make your child happier with herself.

2.     Better relationship;

Who doesn't like a good person as a friend? We all do.

When your child shows gratitude, it will create opportunities for him to able to make a lot of friends who will have a positive impact on her life.

3.     Less stress;

The human body has been designed to encourage us to be good. When we are grateful, our brains release dopamine and serotonin, which are responsible for our emotions and aids in making us feel good.

4.      Gratitude is beneficial to one's physical well-being;

A 2012 study published in "Personality and Individual Differences" indicated that grateful people are mostly physically fit compared to ungrateful people and are less likely to fall ill too.

So how does one teach a child how to be grateful? Well, here are the long-awaited tips below.

Tips to teach children how to be grateful

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1.     Be an example;

If you want your child to be grateful, the best way to teach that is by being a thankful person yourself. You must show it in your actions and other things you do.

Whenever someone helps you out in the most minor way, always show appreciation by saying thank you.

Children learn a lot by seeing, so demonstrating that to him will be an excellent but easy way to teach him.

2.     Let them help do chores;

Engage your children sometimes to join you in doing some of the chores at home. Let them understand that their contribution is needed. This will make them release how hard work is, and if they find themselves somewhere and help is rendered to them, they will know the importance of being grateful.

3.     Volunteer to help;

Another excellent way to teach your children how to be grateful is by helping others out with them. This is important because it will encourage them to be generous towards the less privileged.

If they have food and they see someone hungry, let them understand that it is okay to share the little that you have.

4.     Make it a ritual;

Gratitude is not just a one-day event to teach your child; it has to be part of the child's life; parents need to make it an everyday affair for their children.

You can start that by maybe making it a ritual that before you eat, you must pray to thank God for providing for the family, or it could be a ritual that every dinner time is time to talk about what everyone is grateful for.

Making it a daily habit is what will accumulate over time into a general sense of deep happiness.

5.     Start a gratitude jar;

To keep track of what you are grateful for, get a jar and label it a gratitude jar where you can decide that every week, all family members must write what they are thankful for and keep that piece of paper in the jar.

At the end of the year, or maybe on the next thanksgiving day, you can bring out all the pieces of paper and read them aloud to all the family members.

This will be a great reminder of all the blessings the whole family had to enjoy and will also help them to be more thankful.

I hope this helps in teaching your kids the importance of being grateful.

Thanks for reading.