Often, I find myself daydreaming about the legacy I am leaving to my children and beyond. I think about the impact of my words and actions. One important area that I have noticed is the values that I wish to see shine through in my children need to be modeled daily.

For our family, joy and gratitude are important family values and both my husband and I seek to find ways to incorporate this year-round. Our hope is that this idea will go deeper than just the polite please and thank you but it will really impact their mindset and ability to see the good in all situations. Gratitude has a positive effect on your health and well-being. Gratitude can cause you to feel less stressed and experience more positive emotions and maintain an overall better view of life.

Here is a simple activity that you can do with your kids to incorporate gratitude into your family. 

Build a Gratitude Tree

Step 1: Go on a walk

Take 10 minutes and walk with your kids. While walking begin the discussion around gratitude. What are some things you see on our walk that you are grateful for? This is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about all the things that we take for granted. We don’t always pause and find beauty in the little things. Encourage your kids to begin to think about those things. As you finish your walk pick up a few small tree branches and bring them back home. 

Step Two: Create a tree

 Place the branches you collected in a vase or container of some kind. Fill the container with dry beans, coffee beans, or rocks to weight the bottom of the tree. Have the children trace and cut out various leaves and lengths of ribbon. The leaves should be proportionate to the size of the tree. Place a small hole punch in the top of each leaf. Place the leaves near the vase along with the small pieces of ribbon. 

Step Three: Add leaves

After thinking about the things that you are grateful for, have each family member fill in the leaves. Remember we don’t all have to agree on the same things. If one child is grateful for ice cream, allow that to be placed on the tree with no judgment or criticism. Keep a few leaves to add at a later time. Have each family member attach the leaves to the tree. 

Step Four: Visit the tree daily

 Find time in your day to read the leaves daily. This constant reminder helps us choose a grateful mindset for the other events of the day and teaches us to look for the good in things. 

Step Five: Include others

As people visit for the holidays allow others to add to your gratitude tree. We have weekly dinners with my parents. As things come up during dinner with them, we have added leaves to our tree. The kids get a kick out of reading other people’s gratitude leaves. It also gives us a great opportunity to teach the girls about honoring other people's perspectives. We have had great conversations about the different viewpoints of people around the world. The more our kids can learn about understanding other people’s perspectives, the stronger they will be out in the real world. 

Feel free to make variations or modifications to your gratitude tree. You may choose to create a tree that is on the wall. Some families have created a digital image of their gratitude tree. Be creative and give your family the gift of gratitude this time of year.