Teaching Gratitude: How Educators and Parents Instill an Important Intention

WRITTEN BY KATIE DOLEN, KAREN LEVENBERG AND ANNABELLE BAYLIN | PHOTOS ANNA HAWKINS-SAURER

Join State of Play in an act of gratitude on Wednesday, November 27 at 10:30 a.m. for our Friendsgiving Gathering and Canned Food Drive! Bring five cans for a free play pass; bring 10 cans and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a free birthday party! All food donated to Gallatin Valley Food Bank. Head to www. stateofplay.co to register. For more information about Intentional Child go to www.intentionalchild.com.

At State of Play School, teaching daily intentions and special words of kindness help form the foundation for a child’s social/emotional framework. As an extension of daily mindfulness routines, teachers select special words (intentions) based on observations and values they want to cultivate in the classroom, establishing a community culture with a shared set of moral principles such as resilience, acceptance, generosity and openness, to name a few.

To help shape this curriculum, the educators at State of Play engage in a workshop series through “Intentional Child,” a flexible teaching methodology that focuses on developing kind, empathetic changemakers founded by educational consultants Annabelle Baylin and Karen Levenberg. Intentional Child trains teachers in classrooms all over the country on how to implement daily intentions with young children.

State of Play teachers introduce an intention every other week and discuss it during daily morning meetings. Teachers define the word and act out scenarios using props such as small animals or puppets. Throughout the day they notice and highlight for the children how the intentions look in real time. After only a few short days of using an intention, the children establish a common language around self- and social/emotional-awareness, as well as sharing experiences of kindness and empathy.

As we head toward the national holiday of Thanksgiving, State of Play educators will focus on the intention of gratitude during the month of November. Defining gratitude as being happy or thankful for what we have or have had, their conversations with young children include discussing the importance of being grateful for memories, people and places that have special meaning.

Research shows that when we express gratitude, our brains release dopamine and serotonin and make us feel happier. Here are some simple ways you can model and encourage gratitude at home with your children.

Children ages 0-5:

Show Appreciation. Different from praise, appreciation can be a more meaningful way to connect with each other. Our children watch and listen to how we treat others daily; the person in line next to us at the grocery store, people of service in our community, folks you know well or perfect strangers. Our tone of voice and the way we say “thank you” can be a big indicator of kindness.

Use the Words. Make declarative statements like: “I have gratitude for _____” or “I am grateful for _____” out loud in your everyday encounters while with your children.

Make a Gratitude Tree. Pop a tree branch into a vessel or pot and cut out paper leaves. Ask your child to think of something they are grateful for and write it on a leaf to hang from the branch with colored yarn. Add your own as well.

For children over the age of 5, try asking these questions while sitting around the dinner table or driving in the car: What’s one kind or thoughtful thing someone did for you recently? Who did you thank today? Did anyone thank you? What are you looking forward to this week? How does it feel to do something nice for someone? What’s one thing you do really well?

Practicing gratitude also allows children (and adults) to find the silver linings in situations and notice what we do have as opposed to what is lacking. How will you show gratitude today?

Katie Dolen, State of Play Co-Founder and Early Childhood Educator

Karen Levenberg, M.Ed; MPH, Co-Founder, Intentional Child

Annabelle Baylin, MSEd, Certified Mindful Schools Instructor, Co-Founder, Intentional Child