5 Effective Tips to Teach Kids to Be Grateful

An attitude of gratitude

Help Children Recognize Value of Gifts! Encourage children to recognize the good intentions and sacrifice behind the benefits and acts of kindness they receive from others and the personal value of each gift. People who view interpersonal benefits in terms of the personal value to them in terms of the intention of the benefactor to improve their life, and in terms of the cost to the benefactor for providing the gift tend to be more grateful and happier than others – and kids are no exception. Help your children frame the kindnesses they receive in these terms. Teaching children when they’re young how to think gratefully helps grateful processing become a natural habit.

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An attitude of gratitude

Limit media exposure! Teach your children to be critical consumers of media. Place limits on screen time. Encourage kids to choose media with prosocial qualities and to use media to connect positively with others. Like it or not, media influences our children’s development, especially their independence, sense of right and wrong, and authenticity. Children’s lack of real-world knowledge puts them at a disadvantage for evaluating the truthfulness of media messages. Media is also more commercial than ever, encouraging sensation-seeking and immediate gratification over more purposeful discovery and self-discipline. Limiting a child’s screen time is straightforward: tell them how much TV they can watch and how much game time they can have, and mean it.

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