The season for giving has come to a close, but if your kids are more focused on all that they can get this time of year, how about trying a gratitude practice?  Studies have shown that people who regularly practiced gratitude were found to have lower rates of depression, more impulse control, and stronger immune systems.  By encouraging children to develop these habits at an early age, you can help to set them up for happier, healthier, and more successful lives.

Here are three ways to cultivate a gratitude practice with the young people in your lives:

Model It.  Practice modeling gratitude yourself.  Children watch everything that the adults in their lives do.  Seeing you or other trusted adults take the time to thank others will make them more likely to do the same as well.  Model grateful behavior by giving them and others at least one sincere compliment daily. 

Journal It.  Keep a Gratitude Journal and discuss it with your child.  At the end of the day before bed, take turns sharing at least one thing that you’re grateful for.  If they have trouble thinking of something, ask them questions like, “What was the best part of today?” or “What was a fun experience you had today?”  Write down their responses, and challenge them to not repeat the same things each time.  Discussing things that they’re grateful for on a regular basis will begin to focus their attention more naturally to gratitude.

Create it.  Create opportunities for the youth in your life to help others.  Allow them to receive gratitude by doing random acts of kindness, volunteering, or helping with chores.  Tell youth that you would like to do something nice for other people, and see what ideas they come up with.  Volunteering at a food pantry, donating to a homeless shelter, or writing thank you notes to troops are just a few ideas.  Making the effort now to instill an “attitude of gratitude” in the young people in your life will reap benefits for years to come. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Leilah Siegel, M.S., Ph.D., serves as Educator, 4-H Youth Development, for DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties for the University of Illinois Extension.  In this role, she develops, delivers, and evaluates positive youth education programming and provides training and leadership to 4-H volunteers and staff.  Leilah also contributes to expanding the reach of the 4-H program through community partnerships and outreach.  She is a passionate believer in the power of education to empower and enrich the lives of youth.