There are many words for it such as gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation and just thanks. Gratitude sometimes comes automatically, but it is a wonderful gift to give to your children. It can be taught and in this way, a child learns the value of using it.

Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences and generally it improves one’s health. It is a power tool for building strong and trusting relationships. What a powerhouse of a gift to give to your child.

Research tell us that grateful children tend to be much happier in themselves, more optimistic and have better social support from their peers. Grateful teenagers appear more at peace with their lives and are more engaged in school work, community and perform better at school.

The following thoughts help us think about how we can help our children develop the value of gratefulness.

Simply show a lot of gratitude in your own life. Be specific. Talk about things that make you grateful throughout the day. A child learns from hearing about your own happy experiences.
Point out when you notice others showing gratitude. It could be someone in the family or a friend etc. The more examples, the better.
Talk about famous people valued for their humble and grateful way of living. Why do people value them?
Acts of gratitude can be used to make amends, apologise and help solve problems. Demonstrate some time in your life that through being grateful the situation simply improved.
A wonderful activity in class is to ask children each day to write down three things for which they are grateful. This could be a fun activity to do at home. Some children may enjoy writing in a grateful journal.
Get into the habit of using simple thank yous and pleasantries as often as possible in the presence of your child.
Don't do everything for them. They will appreciate things more if they have jobs and responsibilities. If you take them away from your child there is a selfishness that will creep in to a child’s personality.
Being grateful reduces stress and improves self esteem. When you feel better by demonstrating gratefulness, talk to your child about how good it makes you feel.
Consider doing good will projects with your child. This is an excellent way to do something positive and helpful with your child. It is also a chance to talk about how this gives you pleasure to help others. Good modelling always runs off!
Think about various ways you as a family can be generous. How about donating toys, clothes etc. All this demonstrates how thinking of others is an important value in your family.
Consider sending thank you notes and asking your child to join in. This can be a special time talking about the words to use and why such words are important.

Finally, developing gratitude in children will take time. Your modelling and finding opportunities where your child can demonstrate gratitude will reap benefits in the longer term. Your child will grow, see and feel the advantages in being a grateful person as their years progress.

‘The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.’

-William James