The holiday season is officially here, and we don’t know about you, but it is really easy to get all caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all. It is also very easy to get sucked into the “I wants” with Christmas quickly approaching and all of the Black Friday deals looming. Now is the time to do something different with our families. We want to make sure that in everything, we teach and train our kiddos to have hearts of gratitude. We want them to be able to have eyes to see all of the many blessings around them all of the time, and to not take things for granted.
3 Ways to Help Your Children Have Grateful Hearts
- Have a grateful heart yourself. Whether it is the comfort of warm running water, the dish washer, or even the dirty dishes (which indicate that you had food), talk about those things that you are grateful for with your kiddos. One of the most effective ways they learn is from what you model!
- Share good examples of children who are grateful and even point out when someone is not grateful. This is something that you often will notice at a birthday party as a child opens gifts, or at Christmas. Use the examples of gratitude or ingratitude to help teach your children. Talk about and debrief them on those moments. Here is one of my favorite You Tube videos of a grateful child. Share this and videos like it with your children. https://youtu.be/e7WB4HWmn-k
- Have your child keep a gratitude journal and have them share things that they are thankful for each day. This could be a simple spiral or blank notebook, or if you would like for your kiddos to have a little help with topics to get the ball rolling, this 30 Gratitude journal would be a great help for you. They both have the same 30 days of gratitude chart, but the Youth version is for kiddos who can work independently, and the Jr. version is for those who will need a little help from you. The cool thing is that if you do this together with your kids, it will really lend to great conversation and communication, and is a way you can intentionally help train their hearts for gratefulness! Gotta love that!
James 1:17
” Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
We want to continually help connect the dots that every blessing is from God, that we aren’t just owed things or entitled, but that we have a loving gracious God who loves to bless His children.
Don’t leave it up to your children to figure out gratitude on their own, and please don’t just get frustrated when they aren’t grateful. It is truly something that we have to unveil, model, and help them to see. Look for ways to help open their eyes to the blessings around them!
Youth Version (ages 8 +)
Jr. Version (ages 4-7)
Also, be on the lookout for new resources and merchandise in our Etsy Store!
You have so much to be thankful for! No matter your situation or circumstance, I pray today that God would open your eyes to see the many blessings that are all around you! Have a wonderful, joy-filled holiday season!!!