Being grateful in uncertain times may seem difficult, and understandably so. Teaching lessons of gratitude to your children in these moments may be more valuable now than it ever has been in modern times. Children are watching every move their parents and caregivers make while the current circumstances have many people adapting to new routines within their homes. While you adapt to these new routines, try including daily practices of gratitude. This does not mean going to desperate measures to create a detailed lesson plan on gratitude that will create more stress. It simply means taking a few moments of your day to openly discuss with children who and what you have in your lives to be grateful for.

Teach gratitude by example. Consciously practicing gratitude, a thought about who and what in your life you are grateful for can lead to a meaningful conversation with children about who and what they are grateful for. That conversation could form ideas about how to express that gratitude. Those expressions of gratitude could ignite deeper relationships within the family. Then children may start thinking more about who and what they are most grateful for independently. Then the powerful pattern of gratitude can repeat outside of the home when that opportunity arises.

While math, history, science, etc. are imperative to the education of any child, teaching children about how to practice gratitude can impact their minds in a unique way. When they are faced with adversity in life they can rely on their ability to practice gratitude as a sort of coping mechanism. As they are faced with obstacles such as the ones that the world is currently facing, they can combat the negative side effects of uncertainty and fear by focusing instead on who and what they are grateful for.

When you begin to think of gratitude as an essential component of life it can really help to change your mindset. Passing on the gift of gratitude to children is a gift that will last them a lifetime, and a gift they can share with others. Gratitude seems simple, but when consciously put into practice the effects it can have are profound.