Teaching, reinforcing, and modeling gratitude to our kids and students is essential. After all, people who often feel grateful and appreciative are happier, less stressed, and less depressed. According to mindfullittleminds.com, gratitude for kids can be a very powerful tool, with lots of benefits to mental and physical health. They include things like:
Higher levels of happiness and optimism
Improved sleep
Less stress and an improved ability to cope with stress
Fewer physical problems
Reduced depression
Less aggression
Increased self-esteem
Improved resilience
Just in time for November, the season of being thankful, I have three activities that will help kids think about the importance of being grateful.
1. Giving Thanks and Doing Planks – kids are presented with a 30-day challenge focusing on core strength and thinking of people and things for which they are grateful.
2. 30 Days of Gratitude – a challenge for kids to tackle throughout November or any month. It can be fun for an entire family. It’s goal is to help reinforce ways to show appreciation for people, places, and the things that make us happy.
3. Gratitude BINGO – a fun way to present ideas on how to show gratitude for the people, places, and things we love. It’s an awesome tool to help our kids realize that showing gratitude is not only appreciated by the receiver but also the giver.