Being thankful all month long! 5 Ways to talk about “thankfulness”.

This is a fantastic time of the year to foster the value of appreciation and thankfulness in our children. Here are some suggestions to work this idea in all month long.

1.) Create a thankful tree and have kids hang a note each day for something they are thankful for. Or just put it out at your Thanksgiving meal and have all guests write down their words or notes of thanks. Kids can draw or write their sentiments! I love that it is a visual reminder of all the things or people we should appreciate.

2.) Read a book like Bear Gives Thanks – our favorite bear from Bear Snores On is back in this story all about thankfulness.

3.) Daniel the Tiger is a big hit in our house! He has a special episode called “Thank You Day” all about saying thank you to those you love for the little things they do. This is a great way to introduce saying thank you and writing thank you notes to little ones from toddler to preschool. All episodes can be streamed for free if you have a subscription to Amazon Prime.

4.) Bring the kids to Old Sturbridge Village over one of the weekends in November to be a part of A New England Thanksgiving. Kids can see how Thanksgiving traditions have changed over time. It also is a good opportunity to talk about all the modern conveniences we can be thankful to have!

5.) I love these turkey books that B-Inspired Mama makes with her kids. The kids make books about what they are thankful for each year – without too much prompting. Then she gets to see how they grow and change in their thinking and values each year. Plus they are cute!

The holiday season can be hectic and stressful for so many reasons, and I love how these simple things can help us to be mindful of what the Thanksgiving season is supposed to represent.