“Dane chu, Mommy.”
My 2-year-old son is as wild as the day is long, constantly climbing and jumping and moving and running. But he’s also my most polite child, rarely ever taking something from someone without thanking them (even if what he’s taking is a toy they were still playing with… oops!). Hearing his tiny voice saying, “Dane chu!” (his version of “thank you”) is one of those things I wish I could bottle up and keep forever.
We try to teach our kids good manners like saying “please” and “thank you” from a very young age, but it’s a little more complex trying to teach them about a concept like expressing gratitude. Having younger kids (ages 5, 3, and 2) means I have to get creative to get them do just about anything — from eating their dinner to keeping the bathwater IN the bathtub.
Here are a few fun ways to get even young children to understand the concept of being grateful:
The Gratitude Pumpkin
There’s no shortage of pumpkins around this time of year, so grab one and start a daily practice of writing what you’re grateful for on it. Here are some helpful ideas on where to start.
The Thankful Tree
This is so easy and there are so many variations! For the base, simply start with a tree trunk and branches. You can draw it on a piece of paper, print one out, paint one on a canvas, or even grab a small tree branch from your yard. Then cut out some colorful construction paper leaves.
Each day, give a leaf to each of your family members and have them write or draw what they’re thankful for and attach the leaves to the tree as you go. I’ve found that asking my kids questions like “What’s something that makes you so happy to have (or eat or do or play with)?” gets them thinking. And because we do it each day, they start to think of things even at times when when we aren’t filling out our leaves.
The “Fortunate” Teller Game
I saw this on Pinterest and was immediately brought back to my days in grammar school when we’d make “fortune tellers” out of folded paper and “predict” our friends’ futures. This free printable is a Thanksgiving-themed fortune teller with prompts to get your kiddos talking about people and things in their lives that they’re appreciative of. It’s a great way to get the conversation going.
Framing Gratitude
If you have a spare picture frame lying around, cut out this pretty 8×10 printable and frame it. Each day, have your family discuss what you’re grateful for and write your answers on the frame in dry erase marker. My kindergartener loves to be the one to write our answers!