How to teach gratitude and kindness to your kids?

The two most important skills that need to be imparted in children include gratitude and kindness to make them empathetic and compassionate adults. Parents can help to instill these values in their kids with the right approach. Though it may seem tough, with consistent practice and routine habits, they can definitely be taught to the kids. Let us have a look at some of the important tips to make the kids more kind and filled with gratitude - 

1. Be their role model: Your kids learn from you and are very good at imitating you. So be the perfect role model for them and set examples that they can add to their lives too. These include saying ‘thank you’ to anyone giving you help or appreciating the other person’s efforts. Show them kindness by helping others or donating something in charity or to the needful. In this way, they will learn to be better humans with great values. 

 2. Teach them empathy: Try to teach your child the other side of the coin and tell them the story from another's perspective. For example, if someone around you is sad, you can ask your child certain questions such as ‘How can we make him feel better?’ or ‘Do you know why they are actually upset?’ The foundation to make children kind and filled with gratitude is teaching them empathy and learning more about emotions.

3. Teaching to practice gratitude daily: Encourage practicing gratitude in your daily life and make it an essential part of your family routine. When you make it a practice at night or during dinner to mention three things that you are grateful for, your kids learn to appreciate little things in life. One fun way of practicing gratitude is making a gratitude jar for the upcoming year and writing things you are grateful for on chits and placing it in the jar to open periodically.

4. Reading kindness and gratitude books: For kids, one fun and interactive way to imbibe values in them is reading them a book or telling them stories. They try to mimic certain characters and imagine themselves doing the same things as their role model character. Build a strong role model for them and tell them stories about him/her being kind and empathetic and being loved by everyone.

5. Celebrate efforts: Whenever you feel your child was kind, appreciate them to boost their morale. For example, if you find them sharing their toys, clap for them and tell them that it is very kind of them to practice this. This will help to develop these practices in them more strongly in order to gain more appreciation.

The most important moral values for kids to learn are gratitude and kindness and parents can play a great role in teaching these and building their kids’ strong character. Try to be a great role model for your kids and make them compassionate and kind adults fostering a better society.