How to Teach Your Kids to Be Thankful

Gratefulness is a wonderful attitude to have. It not only encourages you to appreciate everything in your life, big and small, it also prompts you to share what you have with others.

But how do you teach your children to be grateful when they’re so wrapped up in their me-me-me world?

Carissa Evangelista teaches her two daughters to be grateful “by having them say please and thank you. Also thanking the kids and being grateful myself when they give me something or share with me.”

Tesa Geronimo, mom of one, says, “Before we can teach our kids to be grateful, it is important to first teach them about God—who He is, what He has done, and His promises to us. When children are given a high view of God and understand that all creation and material things are from Him and that He too is in control over every experience (good and bad) that we go through, then children will be trained to be grateful in all circumstances.”

“Teaching our kids to be grateful will give them peace and contentment in any situation they may find themselves in. With our son, Nico, we teach him to be grateful when we pray before meals, when we pray in the morning and thank God for the new day, and for the restful evening that we enjoyed. Before we sleep, we spend time to think about God’s graciousness and thank Him for them. After all, a grateful heart is one that finds the countless blessings of God in the ordinary things.”

Emilie Nolledo, mom of two, agrees with Tesa. She lists down some of the things that she does to develop in her kids a grateful heart: “saying thank you to God for specific things during night prayer time, exposing them via outreach activities, sharing stories of how my parents and grandparents didn’t have a lot before but earned through hard work, so they are grateful with what they have.”

This article first appeared in Urban Mom magazine.