As the holiday season is upon us and a new year approaches, it is a great time to practice gratitude.
Gratitude means thinking about and being thankful for experiences or qualities in ourselves, other people, and the world.
Research has shown many benefits associated with gratitude including improved mood, greater happiness, improved physical health and sleep, decreased depression and anxiety, better ability to cope with stress, and stronger relationships.
Gratitude does not mean ignoring negative things. Rather, practicing gratitude means accepting and coping with the negative aspects of life, while also looking beyond them to notice the positive aspects too.
Research has shown that gratitude has four parts: noticing, thinking, feeling, and doing. We often focus on the “doing”, such as saying thank you, giving a gift, or doing something kind. But first, we need to notice what we feel grateful for. We need to think about those things, then notice how we feel about them. Then we can do something to express our gratitude.
There are many benefits of teaching children gratitude. Learning to be grateful can increase happiness, reduce stress, increase empathy, improve relationships, increase optimism, and lead to grateful adults. There are many ways to teach and foster gratitude. These are only a few suggestions:
- Model gratitude. Children learn a lot from watching adults. Say thank you. Do kind things. Help Others. Talk about the things you appreciate.
- Help your child recognize gratitude. Point out or draw attention to people (including your own children) being thoughtful, doing nice things, or showing kindness.
- Ask gratitude questions. Why are you thankful? How does it feel to get this gift? How did you feel when you helped out?
- Find fun ways to show gratitude. There are many ways to show appreciation: smile, give a thumbs up, give a hug, draw a picture, bake cookies.
- Start a gratitude ritual. Say one thing you are thankful for each bedtime or dinner.
- Encourage acts of kindness: smile at others, hold open a door, give a compliment, help others with tasks.
- Volunteer or make a donation together. Draw attention to how this helps others and makes others feel.
- Give gifts. Involve your child in choosing and buying or making gifts. Draw attention to how the other person feels receiving a gift. Ask your child how they feel giving the gift.