For the most part, American children have everything they need and a lot of what they want.  They give us lists at Christmas and on their birthdays and generally get some or all of what they asked for.   They observe parents and grandparents running here and there to make sure that they are happy.  This makes it very easy for them to grow comfortable with and even expect the many blessings that we have in this nation.  They may even come to think of those blessings as entitlements.  This can lend itself to ungratefulness and thanklessness.   They want, want, want and expect that it will be given without much effort or input from them.  In poorer societies, much of what we take for granted is cause for celebration and thankfulness, so in our culture we must find ways to instruct our children on being thankful.  Thankful people are much happier and well adjusted.  In thinking about how to encourage thankfulness in children, intentionality is a must.

One way is by demonstrating to them that nothing in their world is free.  Although it might not have been them, someone had to work to provide all that they have come to expect and enjoy.  When they realize that what they have did not just appear on the table or under the Christmas tree but it cost someone time and effort, they will also realize that they should be thankful for that person and what they provided.

One way is to make them aware of how much things cost.  If they receive a toy, have them figure out on their own or tell them how many hours someone worked to provide it for them.  If they are of the age that they can do one task for an hour, have them do a mundane task for half an hour or an hour to help them realize that someone else sacrificed in order to give it to them.  When they are old enough, give them an hourly rate and have them figure out how long someone worked to pay for their playstation and games, a days worth of meals, or those brand name shoes that they just couldn’t live without.  Have teens investigate cell phone plans and car insurance prices and figure out how many hours they will have to work after school to pay for them.

Another option is to have them sacrifice their time to give others the opportunity to express thankfulness to them.  Some examples might be taking flowers to a home for the aged, or supplies to a local homeless shelter, doing a lawn cleanup for a shut in, delivering a meal to a neighbor who is sick or had a new baby, taking baked goods to the local fire or ambulance station-anything that causes them to have to invest some of their time purely in service to others.  The reward will completely outweigh the time and effort they put in when they are the object of another’s gratefulness.

Expose them to the plight of many in the world that have very little and ask them what they could do to help.  Then enable them to do something to contribute to the well being of another.  There are many reputable agencies that supply funds for schooling and feeding programs in foreign countries that have financial adoption programs with amounts manageable for children of almost any age.  If you fear that they may become overburdened, help them to participate in seasonal types of charity filling boxes of gifts for the poor and underprivileged or by providing a gift for a friend at school who may be going through a hard time.

By helping them appreciate the efforts of others on their behalf and by providing opportunites to be the object of thankfulness, children will soon realize what a difference thankfulness can make in their lives.

The post How to Encourage Thankfulness In our Children appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

In the poem, Children Learn What They Live by Dorothy Law Nolte c1972, Nolte describes perfectly the idea that we can facilitate correct attitudes in our children by  modeling behaviors that cause them to form positive thought processes and behaviors.  This applies when thinking of producing thankfulness.  If our children are raised in an environment of gratitude, it will make them thankful.  As parents take time to express gratitude and model thankfulness, children will begin to observe and model what they see.

Modeling this is not hard, in fact it can be fun.  Here is an activity to cultivate thankfulness in children that will illustrate how to help children write thank you notes, a valuable skill they will use for the rest of their lives.

Once a week, have everyone in the family write one thing they are thankful for and slip it in a jar.  At the end of the month, have each one, Mom and Dad included, look at the slips and pick one that they like the most.  Then, as a family, sit down together and write a thank you note to express gratitude to the person responsible for the item written on the paper.  As parents write their thank you notes, they can encourage and help the children to express thankfulness in their notes by giving them ideas, showing them what they have written, and giving them positive feedback on their creativity.  It’s a great way to assure that you participate in a family activity at least once a month and truly spend quality time together.  Times like these are meaningful and remain as a fond memory in the minds of children for years to come.  They are the kinds of events that form family traditions that can be passed on to future generations and are something you will be thankful for in the years to come.

The post How to Help Children Write Thank You Notes – Model It! appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

Material needed: empty shoe box, scissors, tape, construction paper, markers or crayons, variety of cards, envelopes and a small basket or box.

Directions for making a mailbox:

1. Cover the bottom section of the shoe box with construction paper.
2. Write names and an address on the side of the mailbox.
3. Cut a hole in the top section of the box. The hole should be big enough for envelopes to fit through. Place the top of the box onto the bottom section. Now you have a mailbox.
4. Designate a mailbox location. Make sure it’s within reach of your child.
5. Collect note cards, paper, envelopes and markers. Put them in a small basket near the mailbox.
6. Write a letter to your child and put it in the mailbox. She’ll be excited to open her letter from you. Encourage her to write back. For young children, scribbles, jumbled letters and pictures are all part of learning to write. No need to stress perfection. This is a time for your child to practice and have fun.

Need ideas for what to write? How about sending your child a thank you card for picking up toys? Or encourage your child to send an invitation to her teddy bears for a picnic.  Check out our selection of children’s stationery for even more ideas at amyadele.com. And enjoy sharing this family writing time together.

The post A Homemade Mailbox Promotes Letter Writing appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

We have put a couple of ideas below that may help to spark your creative flair in saying thank you to the teachers of our future.

1. Volunteer! Volunteer! Volunteer!  Your time means more than you can imagine!

2.  Take pictures of your child during your visit to the classroom, on class outings or field trips.  Compile these in a small picture book and label each picture with the name of the child.  These can be saved for years.  With the labels, it makes it nice to reminisce when you can remember names.

3.  Personalized book markers.  Put a quote on one side and your child’s picture on the other.  Have your child hold a sign that says, “Mrs……. rocks!” for the picture.  You have a message within a message.

4. If you bake them food, keep in mind that they will politely accept it, but may not eat it as they may have dietary restrictions or allergies. If you do bake for them, keep it simple and present it in a container that they can keep and reuse; decorated mason jars are great!

5.    Get a metal pail/basket/box, fill it full of boxed candy, a few packages of microwave popcorn, a two-liter of soda pop, and an inspirational teacher movie.  Use a great thank-you card with a special inspirational memory your child had of them written on the inside.

6.  Many teachers spend money from their own pockets for supplies.  To that end, a gift card inserted in a personalized thank-you card would be most welcome!

7. Be bold!  Ask to access their wish lists from Amazon.  You may find a whole host of items there that they really want!

8. Put together a fun “Hello Summer!” package.  Wrap a beach towel, best seller novel, and a pair of flip-flops in a ribbon.  Give right before the break for summer time.

Regardless of what fun, unique and personal gift you decide on, a teacher needs to know that they are appreciated.  They work hard to ensure our future as a nation and your child’s success in all they do.

For more fun ideas and products, visit our website here.

The post Gifts for Teachers appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

• Encourage them to think about the good times that they have experienced in the city where you live now. Then have them do some online research to look for similar opportunities in the new city.
• If they’re younger, have them tell you bedtime stories about things they’ve enjoyed doing in your city. Then you do the online research and print pictures of places in the new city where they can go to have similar experiences.
• Have them make a list of things they’d like to try in that new city, and commit to doing one a month during your first year there. This has the added benefit of ensuring that you have some family activities lined up—and since your children made the list, it should be much easier to get them to go along with it!
• Purchase some of our children’s stationery and invite them to write a thank you note to each of their friends, neighbors and mentors. Remind them that it will be a chance to remember the good times, rather than focusing on their grief and anxiety about moving.
• Order some of our calling cards, with your children’s names and new address, and have your children enclose one in each thank you note, so that everyone knows how to keep in touch.
• For that BFF that your child is certain he or she cannot live without, teach your child the concept of a pen pal. Have your child give a package of our stationery to that BFF to encourage continued communication.
• Once you have moved, encourage your child to take those calling cards to school, church and sports practice, to share with the new friends that she or he is making.
• Keep up the bedtime stories routine in the new city, so that your children are reminded daily to find something to be thankful about in their new home.

Moving is stressful for all concerned. We hope that these tips will help you with the moving process, and also give you, as parents, reminders of the importance of being thankful.

The post How to Encourage Thankfulness When Moving appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

I asked my friend how she instilled such a sense of thankfulness in her children. She said:

Every night, I tucked my children into bed and just before kissing them goodnight, I led them into their last thoughts of the day.

“Thank you for…”

And their small voices collected the list – what they were grateful for; who they were grateful for. It was usually a list of people and events and objects from that evening or at best, the last day or two.

‘Thank you for chocolate cupcakes. Thank you for toads. For my bike. For Daddy.’

Some night’s lists were long. Some were nearly non-existent, but we always ended with, ‘Thank you for love.’ And I kissed them good-night and left their room feeling my own heart, swelling with gratitude for the gift they were. Even when days were long and hard, love trumped.

How often do we say thank you only because it is what we are supposed to do? Training children to reflexively speak the words thank you is not wrong, but offering children practice in feeling gratitude opens new doors to sincere appreciation… appreciation of objects, events, experiences, and people. That is how to encourage thankfulness, in our children and ourselves.

Feeling grateful creates space for a constant awareness and welcoming of love.  And that is something to be thankful for.

The post Feeling Grateful is How to Encourage Thankfulness appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

As a mommy to three little ones, ages 7, 5, and 3, I am often struck by how much “stuff” my kids have.  From toys to books to video games, we seem to have one of everything!  We don’t give them spending money unless they earn it through chores.  My 7-year old has been hired and fired from feeding our cats more times than I can count.  Let’s just say that he’s not a morning-person.  The 5-year old was promoted to the position as a replacement and lasted about 2 weeks.  She seemed to be a perfect fit for the job because of her attention to detail and love for the cats.  Unfortunately, she is a worse morning-person than the 7-year-old.

Despite the lack of chore money, our house is overflowing.  If they didn’t get it as a hand-me-down, then someone got it for them on their birthday or Christmas.

My husband and I have discussed how to encourage thankfulness with the children many times.  When kids these days have so much, how do you get them to appreciate it?  We’ve boiled it down to something simple: say “thank you”… for everything.  We are the “thank you” police.  We remind them constantly, for things from milk refills to birthday presents, and lollipops at the bank to strangers holding doors open for us.  And believe me, they definitely aren’t perfect.  But what really touches me is when the 3-year old thanks me almost every day for washing his blankie.  Or my daughter thanks me for changing her bed.  Or my 7-year old thanks me for simply washing his favorite pants.  We never thought to even ask for thank-yous for laundry.  It’s just something we do as parents.  But I guess the “thank you” police won some ground somewhere in each little mind, and for some reason, in my house, all the hard work shows itself in the most unlikely place…the laundry basket.

-Thank goodness for thankfulness. -Amy Adele

The post How to Encourage Thankfulness in Kids appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

Act promptly. Grandparents usually dote on their grandchildren. They’re eager to know whether the new sweater or toy was a big hit. Don’t keep them waiting. Work with your kids to get thank you letters out within one or two days.

Be specific. Encourage kids to describe why they love the gift and how it’s being used. Maybe your daughter and her friends put that LEGO Hogwarts Castle together within hours. She can describe how they staged a re-enactment of Fred and George flying off on their broomsticks to escape the villainy of Dolores Umbridge.

Minimize the editing. Kids do the darnedest things. Let your toddler talk about how much he loves bowling with his new wooden alphabet blocks instead of insisting that he build a tower. Grandpa will probably find that more entertaining anyway.

Get down to the actual writing: If your kids can’t write yet, they can tell you what they want to say, and you can jot it down. Let them draw a picture or add on a sticker to pitch in. As they get older, you can write out the more difficult parts and leave blanks for them to fill in the words they learn first like their names or familiar objects.

Focus on the presentation: If grandparents live nearby, deliver the notes in person. For greater distances, try reading your notes over a video conference call before you put them in the mail.

The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is something to be thankful for. Help your kids put their appreciation into words.

The post How To Help Children Write Thank You Notes To Grandparents appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

As students grow, they model the behaviors they see around them. Some people they observe have difficulty because all they see are the lemons. Others choose to make lemonade. Students emulate the behaviors of both types of people.

As a teacher, you have the responsibility not only of helping those in your care to see the positive sides of things, but to encourage them to be thankful for those things.

Throughout a typical school day there are countless opportunities for you to model thankfulness and appreciation in the school environment. Students often list their teachers as people they most admire, or who have influenced them the most, long after they have left the teacher behind. All those lessons go out the door with them.

To encourage students to develop the habit of being thankful and expressing appreciation:

• Greet students at the door with a warm “hello” and a big smile each morning
• Say their names – often.
• Be generous with stickers, but expect something in return.
• Be kind to every member of the staff. Give them appropriate expressions of appreciation.
• Stay “thank you” at all the right places, and then some.
• Have students hold the door for others. Teach them to say, “Thank you” during these interactions.
• Teach them to express thanks automatically, such as when you hand out papers or instructional materials.
• Let students see you as you express thanks to cafeteria staff and other people who perform services for you. Students will do what you do.
• Have students write “thank-you notes” to their parents, their grandparents, the principal and even to each other as occasions present themselves.
• Teach them the correct way to write a thank-you note card.
• Share with them some of the cards you write to others. Have them sign the card you start. If they see that you think it is important, they will value the action as well.

We at Amy Adele understand how important teachers are in the lives of their students. We appreciate teachers who know how to encourage thankfulness in children and include teachers in our line of stationery and thank-you cards.

To teachers everwhere, we say a giant “Thank you!” today, as well as all the tomorrows.

The post How To Encourage Thankfulness in the Classroom appeared first on Amy Adele Blog.

We have a suggestion: play the Thankfulness Game! This game will occupy your family for a while, give you a chance to get to know each other better, and hopefully calm them down enough to sit still for dinner, or get prepared for bed….

So here’s how to encourage thankfulness in a snowstorm, or anytime you and your family are cooped up in someplace familiar. The Thankfulness Game is pretty straightforward. You will go through every room of your house, and each person, starting with the youngest (although if that child is pretty young, you may need to go first—at least in the first room—to set an example), will choose one thing in the room that they are thankful for. They will also need to share why they are thankful for this item—and perhaps the older children and adults also need to share a story that is based on, or a memory sparked by, that item. In their own bedrooms (and the bedroom of the youngest is probably the best place to start) this is easy—there will likely be toys galore, and at least some of them will be hand-me-downs, giving each child a chance to point out something in the ro om that they have enjoyed, and share why. The living room, game room, kitchen…those will probably not be too difficult, and of course this is not a competitive game, so helping can be encouraged when it’s clear that someone is ready to give up. If you have older children and want to stretch them a bit, include all those other rooms and closets: laundry room, bathroom (teenagers will probably have fun with those!) and storage areas. If the game is going really well, consider trooping up to the attic and pulling out great-grandfather’s trunk to see what treasures might be hidden in there….

And of course, if the electricity goes out, this game is still playable—and even more fun when each person has to use a flashlight in order to find that elusive item for which they are thankful!

So make sure your flashlight batteries are at full strength and be thankful for the Thankfulness Game when the next blizzard hits!

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