Gratitude is one of the trickiest concepts to
teach toddlers and preschoolers — who
are by nature self-centered — but one of
the most important.
Sure, thankful children are more polite and pleasant to be around,
but there’s more to it than that. By learning gratitude, they
become sensitive to the feelings of others, developing empathy
and other life skills along the way. Grateful kids look outside their
one-person world and understand that their parents and other
people do things for them — prepare dinner, give out hugs, buy
toys. On the flip side, kids who aren’t taught to be grateful end up
feeling entitled and perpetually disappointed.
Indeed, instilling grateful feelings now will benefit your child later
in life. Yet, no one is born grateful. Recognizing that someone has
gone out of the way for you is not a natural behavior for children
— it’s learned.
When Do Kids Get It?
Toddlers are by definition completely egocentric. Still, children as
young as 15 to 18 months can begin to grasp concepts that lead
to gratitude. They start to understand that they are dependent;
that Mom and Dad do things for them. In other words, toddlers
comprehend that they are separate human beings from their
parents, and that Mom and Dad often perform actions to make
them happy (from playing peekaboo to handing out cookies) --
even if kids that age can’t articulate their appreciation.
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