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Creative ways to express a thankful heart

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Teach kids to celebrate blessings in unique and meaningful ways

Appropriately saying thank you to someone who has played a vital role in your life isn’t easy. For that matter, neither is expressing gratitude for simple everyday blessings. It’s important to teach children to have thankful hearts, and to accomplish, that we have to model thankfulness ourselves.

Truly expressing how we feel can be difficult, but during this month of Thanksgiving, it’s important to take some time to show gratitude for everything you have been given—and encourage the kids to do the same.

Here are our tips to teach kids to creatively express thankfulness.

Is there a person in your life or your child’s life who has blessed you in an incredible way? If so, find out what charities or causes are especially important to that person and consider supporting such efforts as a way of multiplying their impact. Encourage your kids to come up with ways to raise money for such organizations or causes.

This support doesn’t always have to be strictly financial, either. For example, if it’s a teacher that has been influential in the life of your child, consider volunteering in that teacher’s classroom or school. If you or your child have been impacted by the work of a charitable organization, give back to that organization and encourage others to get involved by sharing your story.

Have your children brainstorm some people in their lives who are deserving of such an honorary donation, and help them discover ways they can contribute because someone gave to them first.

It’s always helpful for children to have visual reminders of important information, and this includes having visual reminders of their blessings. Consider taking pictures of specific people, places or objects your child is thankful for and work with her to create a collage of all the pictures.

Hang the collage in a prominent place so your children can see it often and be reminded of their blessings. If a child begins to complain about something, have him add something new to the thankfulness collage to help him put aside complaining and recognize he has more to be thankful for than reasons to complain.  

When you are truly thankful, you naturally want to be generous and give to others out of your blessings. There are countless ways to bless others through your blessings, so explore your options. Your child can personally give his old toys to another child and see the joy they bring someone else. If you are blessed with a large kitchen and backyard, consider inviting the neighborhood over for a cookout to simply express you are thankful to be able to host others at your house. If your child is good with animals and thankful to play with them, she can offer to walk the neighbor’s dogs. If your kids are good at art, they can draw pictures to give to others as a way of showing what they are thankful for about that person.

Kids themselves often have great ideas on how to bless others, so have them brainstorm additional possibilities.

There are various ways to officially recognize those who make a difference. Research the best way to honor the special person in your life and have your child help you with the nomination. Even if that person doesn’t win the honor, they will still feel honored for being nominated.

With all the bad news in the world, positive news can make all the difference in someone’s day. Hearing from a thankful heart is refreshing, so use your outlets in social media, blogs and other spaces to express thankfulness for your blessings. Your children can do likewise by practicing saying more positive things than negative things throughout the day and telling one person every day something that makes them thankful. They can also write their own journal entries about their blessings.

We are constantly telling our children what to do, so it’s especially worth recognizing when they do something kind, helpful and meaningful without being asked. Start by having your child brainstorm small things they can do for others and then put them into practice. The more you make it a habit for them to think of little ways to be a blessing, the more likely they will be to do it at other times without being asked.

In today’s world of texting and social media, our kids rarely write handwritten notes, and that is precisely what makes receiving such a thoughtful note even more special. Teaching kids to write personal notes is an important skill, and it’s a way of more authentically expressing true feelings. It will also make more of an impact on the recipient than another type of message.

Put some of these ideas into practice. You never know the kind of difference it will make in your life and the lives of others.

Thankfulness all year long

November is the month when we intentionally think about thankfulness, but it is important kids keep it top-of-mind all year long.

Here are a few ideas to keep a thankful heart as the seasons come and go:

Allison Gibeson is a Lee’s Summit writer and mom who wants to start giving others more handwritten notes of appreciation.

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