5 tips to instill gratitude in your child

Today is Thanksgiving. On this occasion, let us see how you can teach your child to express gratitude.

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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : November 28, 2019 7:07 PM IST

Today is Thanksgiving Day, an annual American national holiday. This special day is celebrated on the last Thursday of November. This day is all about expressing gratitude, spending time with family and being thankful for the many blessings of life. This is basically a festival that celebrated the first harvest of the settlers of the New World. According to folklore, many Indian natives and pilgrims too attended the first thanksgiving celebrations.

As a parent, you can take this opportunity to teach your kids the importance of the same. To do this, you have to go back to the beginning. Tell your kids the story of the settlers, how they battled against all odds to make a life for themselves in the new land, their joy when they first harvested their crops and and how it was first celebrated. Make your kids understand how the small things in life are as important as the big events. Teach him the importance of being thankful for what they have and teach them to express gratitude.

Here, on the occasion of Thanksgiving, we reveal a few tips that can help you inculcate the right values in your child.

HOW TO FOSTER GRATITUDE IN YOUR CHILD

It is very easy to teach your child to say 'thank you'. But how do you instil a sense of real gratitude in them? It is not an easy thing to do. But if you persevere, you will definitely succeed. Let us take a look at a few ways in which you can do this.

Be a role model

Your child will always imitate you. So be their role model. Be grateful for the small and big things in your life. Be vocal about it and make sure your child knows it.

Teach your child to count his blessings

Ask your child what he is grateful for today. Do this every day. Soon it will become a habit and he will automatically be grateful for many things in his life. Gratitude will then become a way of life.

Teach them to help others

Visit a shelter with him and involve him in charity work. This will not only teach him to help others but also instil a sense of gratitude in him for what he has.

Encourage them to share their toys

Teach your child to share his things with those who are less privileged. Take him to an orphanage and let him meet children his own age there. He will realise what he has and be grateful for it.

Teach them to be positive even in trying times

Point out the silver lining of adverse situations. This does not have to be just your own situation but of your neighbour or someone known to you. This will show your child that everything is not so bad and teach him to be grateful for the fortunes of others too. He will also start looking at life more positively and this is what gratitude is all about.

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