
Teaching children about mental health and practicing gratitude is vital for their overall well-being. Research supports that gratitude is beneficial from a young age. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that gratitude is linked to happiness in children by age five. According to a study published in Psychological Assessment, grateful teens (ages 14 to 19) are more satisfied with their lives, use their strengths to improve their communities, are more engaged in their schoolwork and hobbies, and have better grades. Gratitude better-predicted hope and happiness than other constructs, like forgiveness, patience, and even self-control. Here are some strategies to teach children about gratitude:
Teach Children to Give Thanks and Express Gratitude: Encourage children to express gratitude at every opportunity. Make sure to point out times when your child shows gratitude without your prompt. Positive attention will reinforce the importance of showing gratitude.
Ask Questions to Help Children Feel Grateful: Gratitude has four key parts: noticing, thinking, feeling, and doing. Whenever your child receives a physical gift or someone shows kindness to them, strike up a conversation that helps them experience more gratitude. You might start conversations that show how you both think, feel, and respond to the people and gifts you’re grateful for.
Guide the Child Through Gratitude Meditations: Encourage children to imagine when they felt grateful and re-experience that moment. This can help them understand and relive the emotions associated with gratitude.
Model Gratitude: In the presence of your children, engage in acts of kindness for strangers and community members. When children see you practicing gratitude, they are likelier to adopt the behavior.
Establish a Gratitude Ritual: Create a gratitude jar where family members add something they are grateful for each day and review it at the end of the week. This can also be done on a gratitude board where the week's gratitudes are written out and discussed daily.
Establish a Time for Gratitude: Find a regular time to focus your child's energy on creating feelings of gratitude. This could be around the dinner table or during the drive home from school. Guide them through speaking and thinking about what has made them grateful, even showing them how something negative happened has an aspect of learning which can be turned into gratitude over time.
By incorporating these practices into daily routines, children can develop a strong foundation in mental health and the habit of practicing gratitude, leading to a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life.
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