Family Gratitude Garland Activity
"Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance."
- Eckhart Tolle
Developing empathy and learning to take another's perspective are critical skills for children to thrive in our socially connected world. It's important to remember that this is a gradual process that involves consistent role modeling and also developmental considerations. It is hard work for a 2-year-old to understand the perspective of a sibling that just stole their favorite toy out of their hands!
We can help improve our children's social and emotional growth in this area by teaching words that label our emotions and feelings, describing how others might be feeling, bringing awareness to what signals our bodies are telling us during an intense emotion, bringing attention to the nonverbal expressions that others show us during a feeling, sharing our own feelings aloud to normalize them, and validating the feelings of others.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we have an opportunity to reinforce empathy by promoting gratitude and appreciation for the people in our lives and all the great things we have.
When we reflect on what we feel grateful for, it refocuses our attention toward more positive thoughts rather than perseverating on what may not be going well. Grateful kids look outside their one-person universe and understand that their caregivers and other people do kind things for them.
There are numerous studies that have found that practicing gratitude enhances overall life satisfaction, positive mood, happiness, optimism, and hope. Additionally, expressing gratitude has been shown to decrease levels of anxiety, depression, and negative moods.
Creating a family gratitude garland is an easy activity that involves a small, daily commitment and results in a beautiful shift in perspective.
The materials you'll need are simple:
Small slips of colored paper
A hole puncher
A writing tool
String
Introduce the activity by discussing what gratitude is and give some examples of who or what you are grateful for and why. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, and even computer access. It's a lesson in mindfulness. We take a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are when something good happens, whether it's a small thing or a big thing. There are lots of words to describe feelings of gratitude to help get children brainstorming: thankful, lucky, fortunate, humbled, or blessed.
Once everyone is clear on what gratitude means, decide on a good time for a daily family gratitude check-in. It might be on the ride home from school, during dinner, or even with bedtime snuggles.
Have each family member write down someone or something they are grateful for on the slip of paper. Encourage your child to think about what it brings to their life and how it makes them feel inside.
Once recorded, hole punch it and add it to the string.
Hang it in a place where they can look at each other's ideas and talk about what they wrote to invoke positive feelings in your home.
At the end of the month, or over your Thanksgiving meal, take the garland down and share all of the people and things in your family's life that you feel grateful for.
*Find the templates for the fall leaves garland in the image above on A Beautiful Mess.
Interested in booking a session with us?
WRITTEN BY JACLYN SEPP, MA, LPC-S, RPT-S™, NCC, RYT® 200 (SHE/HER/HERS)
Jaclyn believes that all human beings, no matter how small, deserve a place to be accepted for who they are, which drove her to establish Ensemble Therapy in 2015 with the mission to bring high quality therapeutic services to children, teens, and their families in Central Austin. Jaclyn is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S), Registered Play Therapist Supervisor™ (RPT-S™), National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT® 200). She received her Master’s Degree in Professional Counseling from Texas State University (CACREP Accredited Program) and her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Applied Learning & Development from The University of Texas at Austin.
