5 Ways to Practice Daily Gratitude and Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude
Published: November 15, 2024 by Nicole Dieckman
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Thanksgiving is all about practicing gratitude, but sometimes, the overwhelming nature of the holidays and possibly added financial stress can make it challenging to maintain an attitude of gratitude. It’s also a great time of year to teach children about gratitude and how to cultivate the mindset. This list provides five fabulous ways to keep you and your kids practicing gratitude.
Daily Gratitude: Gratitude Journal
Gratitude journals are great for adults and kids! Writing down things you’re grateful for this season can help keep you in a gratitude mindset and keep your spirits high through the holidays. They’re also wonderful to scroll back through and look at when you’re feeling a little down, as they remind you of things that make you feel good. A small photo printer can add to this excitement, especially for children, because they can look over their journal easily and remember the things they felt grateful for at that moment in time, and if they’re forgetting how to feel thankful, they can visually see their gratitude examples.
2. Charitable Work Cultivates Gratitude
Giving always makes a person feel grateful because it reminds them they are lucky to be in the position to provide instead of need. Helping others cultivates many positive emotions other than gratitude as well: self-worth, self-love, human (and in some cases animal) connections, empathy, and kindness. Here at NestKeepr, we’ve created a list of ten charitable things you can do with your kids to not only practice gratitude but also cultivate these other positive feelings.
3. Daily Gratitude at Dinner
If your family is already in the habit of saying a prayer before eating, the chances are high that you are already being grateful at dinner time, but with or without prayer, going around the table and saying something you’re thankful for can be a great habit to get into. Many evenings, my children would come to the table cranky from something upsetting at school or tired from a long day. When we started the habit of each person taking the time to think about what they were specifically grateful for that day, it turned dinner time into a much more enjoyable experience for everybody.
4. Read
One of the great things about books is that they give you a chance to experience life from a different perspective for a short while. The more perspectives you experience, the more empathy you cultivate, and a side effect of empathy is gratitude for your own personal journey. A fabulous example of this is the kids’ book The Biggest House in The World by Leo Lionni, a story of a snail who wants a bigger shell until his father tells him a story of another snail with the same dream.
5. Send Thank You Cards
This is such a great activity to do with kids during the Thanksgiving season. Buy a pack of thank-you cards, sit around the table and discuss who in your life deserves one. If your kids are old enough to write, let them write their own, and if they aren’t, then let them dictate a thank you message while you write it. Once they’re all filled out, take them to the post office or hand them out to the people you are all grateful for in your life.
It’s easy to forget to be grateful when the stress of the holidays are upon us, but taking the time to remember the reason for the season is an attitude of gratitude can make the entire holiday a much more pleasant experience. Try these five ways of practicing gratitude with your kids and change everyone’s mindset all month.
