Three Ways to Teach Our Children to be Thankful!

As I write this, the Thanksgiving Holiday was yesterday, and as always I hope everyone enjoyed it in some way. Whether it was eating a good meal, enjoying time with close family and friends, or both! Regardless of one’s beliefs about holidays, we can all agree that the Thanksgiving Holiday emphasizes gratitude and appreciating the blessings we all have in some shape form or fashion.

When it comes to the youth in our community, this can be an especially important holiday because of its focus on being thankful and grateful. And to be honest, this is an area where a lot of people feel young people are lacking! So, how do we teach young people to be thankful? Here are three suggestions based on my teaching experience.

Number 1: use “please and thank you.”

I think that everyone should use please and thank you as much as possible when we interact with each other. It sounds kind of simple, but sometimes simple things are the most effective! Simply put, when asking young people to do something, or when they hear something being asked of anyone, it’s important that they hear a polite ask (“would you please…”) and an equally polite follow up (“thank you!” or its equivalent). This demonstrates in my opinion, that you don’t take for granted that anyone is just going to do something because you asked, and you appreciate them for doing what you request. This is especially powerful because now you introduce positive expectation into the equation. And positive expectation is very important when teaching and developing our children!

Number 2: talk to youth about thankfulness.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be easy to take some of our blessings for granted. Having a place to stay, food to eat, clothes to wear… It’s not so much that we don’t appreciate them, it’s just that we can become so consumed with our activities it can become easy to forget how we had to work for them, or the time it took to develop them to where they start to bear fruit. And this includes our relationships with our loved ones, families and friends! Whether it’s holidays like Thanksgiving, breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anytime, it can be helpful to let young people know just how much thought and effort goes into providing everyday necessities. Talk to them about how much things cost, how many hours had to be worked to purchase them, how precious time is and maybe even how you didn’t always have some of the things you currently enjoy! There are instances everyday where people go hungry, are homeless, or are struggling with things like having good health, or family and friends that love them. We must educate youth that it’s important to appreciate what we have and the work that goes into having them, in order for them to see that if it’s not appreciated and cultivated, they may not always be able to enjoy what seems like it’s so plentiful and in abundance at the time!

Number 3: Involve them in as much as possible

Young people are very prone to action. They are in a process of learning and growing so it’s important to them that they run, jump, scream (!), etc. in order to test their limits and discover their newfound capabilities. While it’s important to talk to them, it’s also important to involve them in activities in order for them to learn. When it comes time to be thankful, it’s important as well. For instance, instead of them just eating a good, nourishing meal, what if they went with you while you went shopping for groceries? In fact, if you’re the type to make a list before you go to the store, include them in that activity as well. They can see the difference in food prices and how some go up in cost. They can appreciate the time it takes to go to the store, pick out food, and get it back home. Involve them in cooking the food! They can experience first hand the effort and the time it takes to prepare the food, watch it, and even to clean up after it’s finished! Compare that to just eating all the time with none of those experiences to back it up.

As with most things, teaching is an investment in time as much as anything. But, to grow up to be successful and take advantage of our talents and capabilities, it is important to be thankful and appreciate what we already have as much as possible. This will enable us to receive even more from life! So practice these three tips in your home in order to instill a culture of thankfulness in your home and most importantly, in our youth! They’ll grow into adults who will be thankful to you for what you’ve done!