Teaching Toddlers Thankfulness

It’s November & ,with Thanksgiving coming, I’m thinking about how I’m going to teach my kids to be thankful. I’m not just talking about that fake outward thankfulness we all fein for Thanksgiving, but a real heart of gratitude that lasts.  There was an awesome article in Sam’s Club’s, Healthy Living Made Simple Magazine called Teaching Thankfulness to Toddlers. I thought it was so well written and describes what’s on my heart for my children.

You can also keep up with their magazine through the Living Made Simple app. On an iPhone you open it in Newsstand:

 

You have access to their magazines, the Health & Wellness Blog, Sam’s Club locator, & Information on immunizations.

 

This is the immunizations section of the app:

 

It’s pretty helpful.

Building on the Teaching Thankfulness to Toddlers article, main point was the importance of modeling gratefulness. I do that in all the normal ways I would do that; saying thank you when they obey or when someone is helpful. I remind them that thank you is an appropriate response when someone has down something for them. In November we look for ways to celebrate & focus on thankfulness. I wanted to do this as a family together as it is important for everyone to be grateful. So, I cam up with the idea of a thankfulness tree. I rumpled up some packing paper & tore open strips at the top for branches. Then, I tied yarn around the trunk in a few places to help keep the tree’s shape. I used to tape to attach it to the wall, but most of the support was from the yard I used to hang it with,

 

Next, I cut leaves out of different colors of construction paper & places them in a bowl.

 

I told them to choose a leaf & write or draw something they were thankful for & I did the same.

 

Here’s how our tree is starting to fill out & we plan to continue on for the rest of the month.

 

 

They remind me to fill out my leaves each day. I love how simple this is & how visual & tangible it is, too. What do you do to teach your toddlers (or older children) thankfulness? How do you cultivate a heart of gratefulness in your own life?

#SimplyHealthy #CollectiveBias