‘Tis the season of giving! While it’s fun to think about the gifts we want to give our kids, it’s important to also teach them how to be good givers themselves. Involving your kids in gifting is a great way to instill the importance of giving during the holiday season and all year round.
By building giving into how your family functions and modeling how to be a grateful giver yourself, your kids will learn the same.
Tips for Teaching Your Kids to Be Grateful Givers
Take your children gift shopping for others.
Bring your kids with you to the store to pick out a gift for a family member or friend. Encourage them to express their opinion about what the recipient would like.
Talk to your children about what the gift recipient likes.
Give your child a chance to put themselves into someone else’s shoes and picture what that person would like to receive. By putting someone else’s wants in front of their own, they learn to be thoughtful and understand the purpose of gift giving.
Make holiday gift giving an expectation for everyone in the family.
To teach older kids the importance of gift giving, make being good givers an expectation in your household and a part of how your family operates.
Put your child’s gift ideas into practice.
If your child suggests buying coffee for the car behind you in the drive-thru line, go ahead and do it. Kids will learn by watching you.
Don’t alter a gift your child is giving.
Even tweaking the way your child wrapped the gift could make them feel they didn’t do a great job. Allowing your child to wrap and decorate a gift the way they want validates that they are a thoughtful gift giver.
Get your children into the habit of writing thank you notes.
Thank you notes are a simple, easy way to show gratitude. They can also help your child think about how the gift made them feel and how they plan to use it.
Practice grateful giving yourself.
Your children are watching you for cues on how to behave. Let them see you being a good giver too!
