Exploring Gratitude with Your Child

By helping your child learn to appreciate the good in life, no matter how small, you are sure to raise happier, more content individuals. Here are some ideas for exploring gratitude with your child as a family, as explored below by a private school in Bath.

“This post is a partnered post and may contain affiliate links. These thoughts and opinions are in line with my own personal beliefs.”

Talk About What You’re Grateful For

Each evening, perhaps at mealtimes or before bed, ask each member of your family to share
something they’re grateful for that happened during the day. It could be anything, from someone
cooking a meal for you or sharing a snack, or someone giving you a lift to school/work. You could
even take it further and talk about some of the bigger things you’re grateful for, like having a roof
over your head and running water.

Avoid Complaining in Front of Your Child

Children learn a lot by observing their parents. If you tend to complain a lot and focus on the bad
stuff that inevitable happens day to day, like traffic or a disgruntled customer at work, your child will
likely start to do the same. This will have an adverse effect if you’re trying to teach them to be
grateful. So, with this in mind, try and put a positive spin on negative situations. For instance, you
could say “It’s such a shame that it’s raining and we can’t go to the park, but at least we get to spend
some quality time together playing games at home”.

Express Gratitude to Others

There are lots of ways to show people that you are grateful for something they’ve done, or even just
for being in your life. Reminded your child to say thank you to people is a great place to start, but
you could take it one step further. Encourage your child to send thank you cards to friends who
attended their birthday party and/or gave them a gift. Send them into school with some flowers for
their teacher at the end of term, to show that you are all grateful for all the help that teacher has
provided over the course of the school year.

I would love to hear what tips you have for exploring gratitude with your child.