{"id":528803,"date":"2025-11-20T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/?p=528803"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:27:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:27:49","slug":"how-to-teach-your-children-about-gratitude-this-thanksgiving-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/family\/2025\/11\/20\/how-to-teach-your-children-about-gratitude-this-thanksgiving-season\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach Your Children About Gratitude This Thanksgiving Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By <a href=\"https:\/\/appointments.childrensnational.org\/provider\/eleanor-r-mackey\/2359724\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eleanor Mackey<\/a>, PhD, child psychologist and director of Mental Health Services in Bariatric Surgery at Children\u2019s National Hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/tag\/thanksgiving\/\">Th<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/tag\/thanksgiving\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anksgiving around <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/tag\/thanksgiving\/\">the corner<\/a>, it\u2019s a great time to teach your kids about gratitude. There are several ways to highlight the importance of thankfulness for impressionable kids and teens, from setting a positive example for your child to directly giving back to the community as a family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-basics-of-gratitude\">The Basics of Gratitude<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Model gratitude through your actions by, for example, saying \u201cthank you\u201d whenever someone does something nice, big or small:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If someone holds the door for you<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a server refills your water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After your child does something you appreciate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Make a point to talk about things others do for us that go unnoticed, like those who collect our trash, deliver our mail or drive city buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-start-gratitude-oriented-traditions\">Start Gratitude-Oriented Traditions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanksgiving is a great time to start traditions that make your family stop and think about what they are grateful for. For example, have everyone say something they are thankful for. Or, have your kids draw pictures of or write down what they\u2019re grateful for in a journal. Looking back on these moments can be comforting when they\u2019re feeling down or facing challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also incorporate community service into your holiday tradition. Ways to do this include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Take some of your Thanksgiving dinner to a friend or neighbor who is ill or unable to make their own dinner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invite someone to join your family for dinner who may not have their own family nearby.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Volunteer at a local shelter or soup kitchen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pack up gently used toys or clothing to give to kids in need.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Encouraging children to notice and appreciate the positive can strengthen their mental health and build emotional resilience. By emphasizing gratitude, parents help set their kids up for success both in their personal well-being and in supporting the well-being of those around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Feature image, stock.adobe.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Children&#8217;s National child psychologist shares tips to help kids learn about giving thanks. ","protected":false},"author":1001157,"featured_media":528804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Teach Kids Gratitude This Thanksgiving Season<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With Thanksgiving around the corner, it\u2019s a great time to teach your kids about gratitude. A child psychologist offers advice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northernvirginiamag.com\/family\/2025\/11\/20\/how-to-teach-your-children-about-gratitude-this-thanksgiving-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Teach Your Children About Gratitude This Thanksgiving Season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With Thanksgiving around the corner, it\u2019s a great time to teach your kids about gratitude. 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