Cultivating Thankfulness in Preschoolers: Part 1

In these busy months, when we are busy preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is so easy to get caught up in the materialism of the season.  I'm spending some time pondering this question:  How do I cultivate gratitude in my children?

While I definitely do not have all the answers, I've thought of a few ideas:

Examine your own attitude
Are you too busy?  Are you pushy?  Do you want what you want right now?  Do you have an ever-expanding list of wants?  If we aren't thankful and do not have a grateful attitude, we can't expect it from our children!  When I see an ungrateful attitude pop-up in my child, I try to step back and evaluate myself.  Unfortunately, I can often figure out where it came from!  (Don't despair!  Thankfully, God has lavished His grace upon us!  Read about it in Ephesians 1:8) 

Serve someone else
The quickest way to combat selfishness is to serve someone other than ourselves!  There are so many ways to get involved.  Consider including your child in these simple activities:

• Operation Christmas Child:  Fill a shoebox for a needy child.

• Toys for Tots:  Buy a toy for someone else.

• Adopt a family:  Find a family in your community and share with them.

• Visit a nursing home:  Make a craft, play a game, read a book, or simply share a conversation with someone.

It's easy to come up with an idea to serve someone, but it can be much harder to actually do it.  Take a step of faith and serve!!

Find Part 2 of this series here.