If you’re a parent, when your kids were small, you likely got this kind of card for Thanksgiving!!

Kids are given these projects all the time at school, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t reinforce the concept of gratitude at home.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, you may put some time into thinking whether you are doing your due diligence in raising children who truly appreciate what they have. It’s such a materialistic world, more today than ever, and it’s really easy to buy your kids everything they want- you want them to be happy of course! I’m guilty of making a big deal out of birthdays and Christmas, too. But too much of this can create, let’s face it, brats. There are SO many opportunities to raise really respectful and thankful children who care more about what’s really important than a pile of gifts. 

I’ve mentioned that I start each day with the mantra, “May we be happy, may we be safe, may we be healthy, may we be at peace.” (When Kids Head Back to College) I ‘pray’ for that, then take a moment to have sincere gratitude that those things are so at this moment. I feel strongly that my sense of gratitude has rubbed off on my children. I’ve watched them become amazing, gracious women, and I hope these ideas will be helpful to you.

The Thankful Tree. When my girls were young, we made this turkey out of papier-mâché for our Thanksgiving center piece, ha!

We cut out colorful feathers and wrote what we were thankful for on those. Super cute. We turned that idea into a “Thankful Tree’ the next year.

See the leaves they made. This is something I bring out every year still today! It really makes me smile. One of my daughters wrote, “I am thoughtful (!) for having a house and a loving family”. And of course I’m going to love, “I am thankful for a nice mother” 🙂

A thankful motto on the fridge.

We are not a religious family, so never were the kind to say prayers before eating or going to bed or whatever. But I did want to instill the concept of the prayer anyway. We came up with a motto of sorts, and thought about things we were thankful for, like food, a warm home, family who love us. I wrote this and put it on the fridge for everyone to see daily. I also include, ‘because not everyone has these things’, because I think this is really important. It’s so easy to take for granted things we have, because usually everyone around us has them, too. But much of the world does not live as comfortably as we do, and I want my children to really understand that.

Responsibility for caring for something. It can be a plant, a garden, a pet. This lets them understand how good it feels to do something nice; that their care is making a difference in the life of something else. I love that my girls have always taken an active role in caring for our cats. They have become so close to them and it’s heartwarming to see.

Small acts of kindness. There are small things that I do at home for animals, that I always made sure I called out to my girls. I leave water outside for stray animals, have a bird feeder and bird bath, and throw my veggie scraps outside for the deer. You know when you buy a pack of soda, the plastic rings that hold them together in the pack? I always cut open those rings before I throw it away, because I heard that the trash gets into the ocean and sea animals can get stuck in it and choke. Just pointing out ways that I’m being thoughtful to try and help animals a little more lets them see that firsthand.

Volunteering. I did not realize what a blessing in disguise it was when I worked at our local food bank. Every Thanksgiving there is a huge food drive for those that need a holiday meal. My daughters gladly offered to volunteer with me, and I think they not only enjoyed it but it sunk in that these people needed this food. People came up to us to thank us, and this really moved us. My oldest daughter was even getting upset if someone accidentally missed something in a bag like apple sauce or green beans, so went around to double-check everyone’s work. She is an engineer now, so think she’s in the right vocation for that personality!

Home-made Christmas presents. See my post 11 Special Home-Made Gifts from Children. I started them out with this idea when they were young, and it quickly became a tradition; and something they REALLY enjoy. They think of the ideas themselves, put together the recipient list, then deliver them before Christmas Day. It’s so gratifying seeing them sit around the table working on their gift projects. They put time and effort into them and they (usually) turn out great, like the homemade chocolate covered pretzels!!

Consider giving these to people who help us in the community like the mailman, teachers, a bus driver, or the garbage men.

Donating old toys and clothes. This is something we have done, and continue to do today. I was always of the mind that when you get something new, you should give away something old. We enjoy knowing that less fortunate people are using these again. Especially at holiday- time, there are drives you can participate in like the food bank Thanksgiving meal above. This time of year there is a real need for warm clothes and coats and also toys for children from underprivileged families. I invite you to include your children in the collection of those things they are okay giving away to someone who really needs it. 

Thank you notes.

I grew up writing these to friends and family all the time, and have passed this on to the girls to the point that they do them automatically now. In this highly phone-dependent world, I guess it’s nice to send a text, and the girls do this regularly to thank someone. But I’ve always thought a hand-written note is so much more personal and MUCH nicer. We keep blank notes on hand to make it an easy reminder to do. We also send notes when someone is sick or we want to wish them good luck, etc.

And to make it cuter (of course I need to), consider adding a photo like this to really make it special.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy every minute of your time with family!