"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” - AA Milne, Winnie the Pooh
There are many studies that show the benefits of incorporating a gratitude practice into children's lives (and their caretakers!). Scientific research shows that people who make noticing, feeling, and expressing gratitude a part of their daily routine experience many helpful results: improved emotional intelligence, better sleep, high self esteem, positive mental health, healthier relationships, and a stronger immune system to name a few.
Here are 7 tips to help develop a healthy gratitude practice in your family:
Modeling Gratitude - By noticing, appreciating, and using descriptive language to express what we feel grateful for we are helping to create fertile ground for gratitude to flourish. As teachers we are very aware to model gratitude by noticing and appreciating the little humans around us as well as our environment and the wonders of the natural world. By using vivid descriptive language that emphasizes the positive we are supporting a rich vocabulary and reinforcing that the world is a good place. What you focus on grows.
Gratitude Rituals - At ACG we incorporate daily rituals that focus on gratitude. We sing a gratitude song before we eat together and share what we are grateful for while we are eating. At the end of our day.we share something that we especially liked about our day. We also have a kindness jar that the children or teachers add pom poms to when we notice another child being helpful or kind. At home families can express gratitude at dinner or before bedtime. Writing thank you cards is a wonderful gratitude activity - even younger kids can make a drawing and learn the art of expressing thanks.
Gratitude Games - Make gratitude fun and play games that reinforce an attitude of gratitude - see some of our examples below.
Gratitude Journals - Keeping a gratitude journal is a powerful tool to create more awareness of our blessings and express gratitude - below we have detailed suggestions on ways to keep a gratitude journal with children.
Being Helpful and Making a Contribution - Involving children in the work that goes into daily living helps them to better understand why gratitude is important. At home young children can:
At ACG the children help to take care of our garden, tidy up our environment, and prepare healthy food together. We love to see their self esteem blossom as they make a contribution.
Read Books About Gratitude - Kids learn so much from stories and picture books. Selecting books that focus on expressing thanks helps to support a thriving gratitude practice. We love "The Thank You Book" by Mo Willems, "All the World" by Liz Garton Scanlon, and "Bear Says Thanks" by Karma Wilson.
Saying "No" Sometimes - By resisting the urge to give children everything they want all the time or everything we wanted when we were children we avoid creating a sense of entitlement and teach our children to appreciate the times we say "yes".
Here are some fun ways we practiced gratitude at ACG this month:
Here are 7 tips to help develop a healthy gratitude practice in your family:
Modeling Gratitude - By noticing, appreciating, and using descriptive language to express what we feel grateful for we are helping to create fertile ground for gratitude to flourish. As teachers we are very aware to model gratitude by noticing and appreciating the little humans around us as well as our environment and the wonders of the natural world. By using vivid descriptive language that emphasizes the positive we are supporting a rich vocabulary and reinforcing that the world is a good place. What you focus on grows.
Gratitude Rituals - At ACG we incorporate daily rituals that focus on gratitude. We sing a gratitude song before we eat together and share what we are grateful for while we are eating. At the end of our day.we share something that we especially liked about our day. We also have a kindness jar that the children or teachers add pom poms to when we notice another child being helpful or kind. At home families can express gratitude at dinner or before bedtime. Writing thank you cards is a wonderful gratitude activity - even younger kids can make a drawing and learn the art of expressing thanks.
Gratitude Games - Make gratitude fun and play games that reinforce an attitude of gratitude - see some of our examples below.
Gratitude Journals - Keeping a gratitude journal is a powerful tool to create more awareness of our blessings and express gratitude - below we have detailed suggestions on ways to keep a gratitude journal with children.
Being Helpful and Making a Contribution - Involving children in the work that goes into daily living helps them to better understand why gratitude is important. At home young children can:
- Set and clear the table.
- Dust the furniture.
- Feed pets.
- Pick up toys.
- Help to cook meals.
- Carry in some groceries.
- Mop areas with help.
At ACG the children help to take care of our garden, tidy up our environment, and prepare healthy food together. We love to see their self esteem blossom as they make a contribution.
Read Books About Gratitude - Kids learn so much from stories and picture books. Selecting books that focus on expressing thanks helps to support a thriving gratitude practice. We love "The Thank You Book" by Mo Willems, "All the World" by Liz Garton Scanlon, and "Bear Says Thanks" by Karma Wilson.
Saying "No" Sometimes - By resisting the urge to give children everything they want all the time or everything we wanted when we were children we avoid creating a sense of entitlement and teach our children to appreciate the times we say "yes".
Here are some fun ways we practiced gratitude at ACG this month:
Gratitude Game
A classic dice game with a gratitude twist. When kids actually help to make the game they are even more excited to play it!
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Say What You Love is another fun gratitude game we often play together to inspire kids to focus on what they are grateful for - some kids will get really enthusiastic with their heartfelt appreciation: " I love ice cream! I love the moon! I love dragons! I love coloring! I love my toys! I love hugs! I love swimming..." Their joyful expression is contagious!
Gratitude Journal
Here are some suggestions for getting started.
1. Create the journal
Bind together different colors of construction paper. Encourage your child to decorate a cover for the journal using markers, crayons, stickers or photographs. On each blank page of the notebook, write “I am grateful for” at the top. We tried to leave several blank pages for you to continue the process at home.
2. Integrate journaling into your child’s routine
Determine the best 5-10 minutes each day for your family to sit down and journal without interruptions. Have your child draw, write or describe to you items that he is grateful for. Consistency is key for developing a habit, so try to follow the same sequence of events each day (i.e. dinner time, journal time, bath time, bed time). Even pre-verbal children can benefit from gratitude journals as they can understand so much of what we are saying and their artwork has meaning.
3. Give prompts if needed
Expressing gratitude might not come easily at first for your child and that’s okay. Prompt him by asking questions, such as “Who is a family member or friend you are grateful for and why?”, “What is one thing you enjoyed doing today?” or “What is one of your favorite toys?” Ask your child to draw a picture and if age appropriate, write a few words describing the drawing. Model positive behavior by sharing your own moment of gratitude for the day.
4. Set small goals
Set a short term goal with your child, such as journalling each day for a month. At the end of the month, remind your child of the fun they had by reviewing the entries together. You might be surprised to learn that your child wants to continue using the gratitude journal! If so, brainstorm a new goal and create a new journal if necessary.
1. Create the journal
Bind together different colors of construction paper. Encourage your child to decorate a cover for the journal using markers, crayons, stickers or photographs. On each blank page of the notebook, write “I am grateful for” at the top. We tried to leave several blank pages for you to continue the process at home.
2. Integrate journaling into your child’s routine
Determine the best 5-10 minutes each day for your family to sit down and journal without interruptions. Have your child draw, write or describe to you items that he is grateful for. Consistency is key for developing a habit, so try to follow the same sequence of events each day (i.e. dinner time, journal time, bath time, bed time). Even pre-verbal children can benefit from gratitude journals as they can understand so much of what we are saying and their artwork has meaning.
3. Give prompts if needed
Expressing gratitude might not come easily at first for your child and that’s okay. Prompt him by asking questions, such as “Who is a family member or friend you are grateful for and why?”, “What is one thing you enjoyed doing today?” or “What is one of your favorite toys?” Ask your child to draw a picture and if age appropriate, write a few words describing the drawing. Model positive behavior by sharing your own moment of gratitude for the day.
4. Set small goals
Set a short term goal with your child, such as journalling each day for a month. At the end of the month, remind your child of the fun they had by reviewing the entries together. You might be surprised to learn that your child wants to continue using the gratitude journal! If so, brainstorm a new goal and create a new journal if necessary.
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Older children may enjoy a journal with written prompts. My son and I really enjoy doing this Thankful Unicorn journal before bed. It only takes us 5 minutes and it is such a sweet bonding activity to do it together :)
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Gratitude Soup
This soup is perfect for the chilly weather and a great way to consider what goes into the food we eat. So much to be grateful for!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Sauté the root veggies and half of the fresh herbs with a pinch of salt until their fragrance is released. Add the greens, another pinch of salt, and add water just to cover the veggies. Bring to a boil, then cook on a low simmer for about 20 minutes until all the veggies are tender. Add salt to taste and garnish with the other half of the fresh herbs.
When encouraging the kids to eat new vegetables we love to ask them questions to help them feel more friendly with new foods:
Ingredients:
- 2 carrots, chopped 1/2 moons
- 1 delicata squash, de-seeded, chopped small cubes
- 1 sweet potato chopped small triangles
- 1 purple turnip, chopped small cubes
- 2 cups collards, chopped bite size
- 1 cup dinosaur kale, chopped bite size
- 1 cup sorrell, chopped bite size
- 1 handful rosemary, chopped fine
- 1 handful parsley, chopped fine
- 1 handful sage, chopped fine
- 2 TBS coconut oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
Sauté the root veggies and half of the fresh herbs with a pinch of salt until their fragrance is released. Add the greens, another pinch of salt, and add water just to cover the veggies. Bring to a boil, then cook on a low simmer for about 20 minutes until all the veggies are tender. Add salt to taste and garnish with the other half of the fresh herbs.
When encouraging the kids to eat new vegetables we love to ask them questions to help them feel more friendly with new foods:
- Can you see any of the vegetables we picked from the garden?
- Can you smell any of the herbs from the garden?
- Do you see any shapes in the soup?
- What happened to the color of the purple turnips?
- Taste your soup, would you like to add more salt or fresh herbs?
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Before we eat together we love to sing our gratitude song together:
Give thanks to the mother earth
Give thanks to the father sun
Give thanks to the plants in the garden
Give thanks to the plants in the garden
Where the mother and father are one
(A big thanks to the Welch-Curry family for sharing this with us many years ago! With four kids they have been the longest attending family at ACG!)
Give thanks to the mother earth
Give thanks to the father sun
Give thanks to the plants in the garden
Give thanks to the plants in the garden
Where the mother and father are one
(A big thanks to the Welch-Curry family for sharing this with us many years ago! With four kids they have been the longest attending family at ACG!)
Gratitude Yoga
This sweet poem with simple yoga poses inspires gratitude for our earth and each other.
I bow to mother earth
I lift to father sky
I open to the sun and the clouds passing by
I welcome the rain that flows to the sea
I honor the kindness in you and in me
I bow to mother earth
I lift to father sky
I open to the sun and the clouds passing by
I welcome the rain that flows to the sea
I honor the kindness in you and in me
One of the kids favorite parts of yoga class is to do "make up pose". Here the kids are creating a pose to express something in nature they are really grateful for. We had "rainbow", "growing tree", and "butterfly" to name a few.
Pumpkins Galore!
To make our Thankful Pumpkin we took turns writing or drawing what we are thankful for on the pumpkin. It makes a great centerpiece for the dining table!
Pumpkin Hammering and Smashing!! Pumpkins are the perfect consistency to learn hammering skills and SO FUN to smash!
Pumpkin Drumming! Such a great way to learn new rhythms and easy on the ear while still making a satisfying sound :)
A HUGE thank you to all the families who donated pumpkins for us to play with!
A HUGE thank you to all the families who donated pumpkins for us to play with!
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Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease mini muffin pan. Put all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until smooth. Spoon into greased muffin pan and bake for 13 to 18 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup fresh cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease mini muffin pan. Put all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until smooth. Spoon into greased muffin pan and bake for 13 to 18 minutes.
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Roasted pumpkin seeds
Bugs!
Play-dough bugs
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Clay bugs
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Drawing bugs
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Beeswax bugs
Garden Time!
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We have been planting wildflower seeds in our Wildlife Habitat Garden!
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Annual Fundraiser!
We are raising funds to help complete our Wildlife Habitat Community Garden! We would love for the wildlife garden to be a thriving learning center for the families at ACG with hand painted educational signs, insect hotels, a water fountain, more native plants as well as provide a community space for families to enjoy with a picnic table and some benches for enjoying the different areas. We will be installing a grey water irrigation system that will reuse water to help the plants thrive all year in a sustainable way. Please consider making a contribution to make this space a wonderful addition to our program on our GoFundMe page.
See you next time!
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