Thanksgiving: Time to Teach Your Kids About Gratitude

Most people view Thanksgiving as a holiday when family comes together to share a delicious meal. However, there is more to this holiday. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to teach your kids about how blessed they are.

Volunteer Thanksgiving is a wonderful occasion to give back something to the community. Buy some toys and get your children to help you gift wrap them before you take these gifts to the children’s hospital to distribute to kids who are sick.

Invite an Elderly Neighbor for Thanksgiving Dinner This Thanksgiving invite an elderly neighbor to join you for Thanksgiving dinner and share moments of joy and happiness with your family. Involve your child in preparing the dinner and setting up the dinner table.

Do a Good Deed Ask your children to do a good deed the entire Thanksgiving week. It could be helping an elderly person cross the street or mowing an elderly or invalid neighbor’s lawn for free. Tell them the deed is not about expecting something in return.

Give Your Home a Thankful Ambience Get your kids to help you decorate the house with craft that oozes of happiness and gratitude. Display cards on the mantle that you have received. Make the whole atmosphere in the house festive, so that kids realize they do have something to be thankful about.

Pen Down a Few Words to a Friend Buy blank cards and get your children to write a few kind words to a friend. Ask them to write from the heart about what they like in the friend and why they are thankful that person is their friend. Writing down gratitude helps in enhancing its effects.

Put Up a Thanksgiving Tree Start a tradition in your family to put up and decorate a Thanksgiving tree. Hang thank you notes and cards on the tree and also encourage visitors to write thank you notes that can be placed on the tree. Use other decorative items to make the tree festive and colorful.

Fill a Thankfulness Jar Ask each of the family members to write in a piece of paper all the things that they are grateful for and put it in a jar. Reading out these notes during the Thanksgiving dinner would be a great way to show your kids how to express their gratitude.

Encourage Your Child to Help in Household Chores Thanksgiving is the right time to encourage your kids to participate in household chores. Even the smallest task like taking out guests' coats can make the child realize that it feels good when you help others.