With the new government restrictions and daily Coronavirus news, our lives have been completely transformed. Any break in routine can be a stressful experience, and this particular set of circumstances is stressful for both adults and children alike.
As we have seen from the people around us, times such as these can either bring out the best or the worst in people. This makes now the perfect time to teach your kids the valuable lesson of being grateful for every day and seeing the good in people around them. Here are a few ways that you can encourage your kids to show gratitude throughout this difficult period, plus free Thank You Printables.
Saying Your Daily Gratitudes
Start by saying your daily gratitudes. This is an awesome exercise to do at any time, but especially now. Create a list with your child of the things in their life they are most grateful for. This list can include things as important as family, home, and health or as lighthearted as sneaking a daily chocolate or playing their favourite game. Work with your child to find daily gratitudes that mean something to them and recite them together every day. It starts your day off on a positive note and puts any challenges that are to come into perspective.
Talk About What You CAN Do
While everyone is stuck at home and travel has been put on hold, it’s easy to focus on the negatives. There is probably a big list of things you can’t do, and as a parent you can feel like you have to turn down every idea your child has. One way to break free of this negative mindset is to focus on what you can do instead of what you can’t do.
The current circumstances have stopped our daily routine in their tracks, which means they have opened up the possibilities of an entirely new routine to form that would otherwise be impossible. Focus on the little things that are now possible for your family thanks to this new set of circumstances. For many of us, we’re getting more family time than ever before. Our children are getting more individualised learning than at school. We can make our own schedules, take a leisurely walk together in the middle of the day, finish all those books we didn’t have time to read before. Being grateful for the things that we can do takes the sting out of the things we can’t.
Say Thank You
The best thing we can all do to show our gratitude is say thank you. There are so many people who aren’t safe and sound in their homes right now, but are still working to provide us with the services we need. Show your children how important it is to show gratitude to everyone from doctors to delivery people as they make our lives safer and easier throughout this time.
Thank You Printables
My five year old niece wanted to have something to put in the window to say Thank You to all those helping us during these crazy times, so my sister in law messaged me to see if I could come up with something for her. I designed two Thank You printables, both incorporating hearts and rainbows, that I thought I’d share with everybody. These are free to download and can be decorated, hung in windows, posted or given to all those keeping us safe during these crazy times.
Download Your Printables Now.
Here are a few Thank You Printables that you can download for free.
Stay Safe,
Michelle.
