{"id":4274,"date":"2024-07-25T14:35:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T14:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ec2-52-14-78-51.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com\/?post_type=first-things&#038;p=4274"},"modified":"2026-02-04T23:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:31:54","slug":"teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"first-things","link":"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/first-things\/teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering gratitude in toddlers and preschoolers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wJ12FG574vk?si=4CvS_TBnnoKjq2ut\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Gratitude is a high-level concept that can be tricky for toddlers and preschoolers. In their early years, children are naturally self-focused as part of their development. However, as they grow, fostering a sense of gratitude helps them become more understanding of the needs and feelings of others.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">When do children learn about gratitude?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Children begin learning about gratitude as early as age 2. At this stage, they may start expressing thanks when prompted. By ages 3 to 5, children can understand the concept of gratitude more deeply and show appreciation independently.<\/p>\n<p>Developmental Milestones<\/p>\n<p>Curious to learn other age-appreciate milestones for your child? Check out Ages &amp; Stages!<\/p>\n<p>Find more<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Tips for teaching gratitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s simple to build in daily activities to help your child understand the needs and feelings of others. Below are five tips to get you started.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Teach Them to Say Thank You<\/strong><br \/>\nEncourage your child to thank people who help them. This can be a server at a restaurant, a sibling who helps them pick up toys or a friend who gives them a birthday gift.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Express Your Gratitude<\/strong><br \/>\nLet your children know why you are grateful for them. Be specific to make them feel special and loved. For example, say, &#8220;I appreciate how you help your brother tie his shoes.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Model Gratitude<\/strong><br \/>\nShare what you are grateful for with your children. This can be through a blessing before dinner or a family gratitude journal where everyone writes down what they are thankful for.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support Charitable Activities<\/strong><br \/>\nGet involved in charitable events or organizations. Whether donating clothes or toys, participating in a food drive or baking cookies for a new neighbor. Explain to your children what these actions mean to those who receive them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be Consistent<\/strong><br \/>\nLike all skills, gratitude is not learned in one lesson. Regularly practice and reinforce the habit of being thankful.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>ZERO TO THREE<\/strong> understand that many parents want to nurture gratitude in their children and have resources to help.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Find more resources<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Books for teaching 3-5 year olds gratitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can also read these books recommended by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zerotothree.org\/\">ZERO TO THREE<\/a> that offer stories and messages to help children understand and appreciate gratitude.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Thankful by Eileen Spinelli<\/li>\n<li>Being Thankful by Mercer Mayer<\/li>\n<li>Ordinary Mary\u2019s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson<\/li>\n<li>Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss<\/li>\n<li>Giving Thanks by Jonathan London<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t Say a Word, Mama\/No Digas Nada, Mama by Joe Hayes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Benefits of teaching gratitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Research shows that thankful people are generally more optimistic and less depressed and stressed. And your child&#8217;s first five years are the most impactful in helping them develop these skills. By teaching our children to appreciate what they have and what others do for them, we are helping them become happier, healthier adults.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gratitude can be a difficult concept for toddlers and preschoolers. The holiday season is a good time to help them learn some important life lessons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":40059,"template":"","tags":[38,71,73],"class_list":["post-4274","first-things","type-first-things","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-toddlers","tag-preschoolers","tag-social-emotional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fostering gratitude in toddlers and preschoolers - First Things First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The upcoming holiday season is the perfect time to teach young children an important life lesson about gratitude.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/first-things\/teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fostering gratitude in toddlers and preschoolers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The upcoming holiday season is the perfect time to teach young children an important life lesson about gratitude.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/first-things\/teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"First Things First\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AZFirstThingsFirst\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T23:31:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gratitude.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AZFTF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Tiempo de lectura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/first-things\/teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/es\/first-things\/teaching-young-kids-about-gratitude\/\",\"name\":\"Fostering gratitude in toddlers and preschoolers - 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