Exploring Gratitude with Your Child

Being grateful for one’s achievements, what they have around them, and their friends and family are ways of expressing kindness, compassion and will undoubtedly bring friendships and family closer together. 

To look at fostering gratitude in our children there are a lot of ways you can help, even when you’re not even noticing you’re doing it. In this guide from an independent school in London we take a look at how you can explore gratitude with your child to help them in building compassion.

Model gratitude around your child

We’ve all learnt a lot of our skills thanks to our parents. Children love to follow and hang around with their parents, which is a key time to show them how to express gratitude in your own life. It can be as simple as showing that you say thank you to the restaurant server, or helping someone clean up a mess if they dropped some groceries by accident at a supermarket, or holding a door open for others. 

These ways and more are showing your child how you can be kind towards others without overstepping and showing you’re grateful for the world you’re in.

Be sure to say no

Not every single time your child asks, though the majority of the time, you should aim to say no when your child asks for something. They shouldn’t be seen as spoiled, or they’ll be able to get away with a lot of things – show them that you can lay down the law and have a level of discipline that will make them more grateful for the things they’re allowed to do in the future.

Ask your child what they’re thankful for

Having a rapport with your child will give them the chance to express their true feelings. Ask about their favourite things and what makes them really happy, like their favourite hobbies, their passions and subjects at school. The more they’re able to feel open about these things, the greater their level of compassion and gratitude, as they’re understanding what they love about them and how it makes them feel.

This is a collaborative post.