get through the holidays with gratitude

Between school parties, too much sugar, events almost every evening and the pressure to buy the best gifts, it’s no wonder that a lot of kids and families feel stress around the holidays. If you’re feeling short on holiday cheer, one solution is to spend some time practicing gratitude.

Spending time thinking about the good things in your life can make you healthier – in mind and body!

Gratitude helps:

• Raise energy levels
• Boost self-esteem
• Build and improve relationships
• Reduce stress

But how do you get started?

Talk to your children about noticing the things that they are grateful for. Challenge them to come up with different things. Maybe today you ask them to think about people they’re thankful for. Tomorrow you might ask about their favorite things in the house or at school. Try to keep going with different topics and ask your kids for ideas too. It can be fun to think of all the different kinds of things that you enjoy.

Making it a habit

Once you’ve started, keep it going!

• Gratitude Journals – Write down a few things each day that you’re grateful for. This can be really meaningful to go back through later and remember what kinds of things you were grateful for a few weeks or months ago.
• Sharing at Meals – Take a moment at the beginning or end of a meal together to name something each of you are grateful for.
• Grateful Jar – Encourage everyone in your house to write or draw something they’re grateful for on scraps of paper and put them in a jar or other see-through container in a central location. Take them out and read them together every few weeks or months.
• Start Your Own Tradition – There’s no right or wrong way to express gratitude! If what helps your family is to talk about what you’re grateful for while waiting for the school bus in the mornings, that’s great

free family activity: track your gratitude

To help you to get started, we have a free download that you can use with your family to track your gratitude.

Download the free page here to get started. 

Gratitude doesn’t change the busy, hectic holidays, but it might help us remember things that are wonderful and bright and beautiful in the middle of all the chaos. And taking time to notice those good things can benefit your family’s mental health.

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