One in four young people in Australia live with a mental health challenge.
Staggering. 1 in 4
I believe there is so much we can do as parents to help turn the dial on what is happening. It is the drive to bring well-being strategies into the home that gave life to Kids Who Shine.
Our books and printables, lean on positive psychology interventions that can build the well-being of children and adults alike. We create activities to help parents bring well-being into the home.
One of the theme's we focus kids on is gratitude. Why gratitude? Graitude holds a multitude of well-being benefits for adults and kids alike.
Emmons and McCullough define gratitude as a two-step process:
1) “recognizing that one has obtained a positive outcome” and
2) “recognizing that there is an external source for this positive outcome.”[i]
Gratitude is also...
- A Character Strength – A person can hold a character strength of gratitude
- An emotion – in response to an event in which we are grateful for
- A practice (which in turn develops/enhances the above mentioned)
The benefits of gratitude are…
Individual
- “better physical and psychological health
- increased happiness and life satisfaction
- less likely to suffer from burnout
- greater interest and satisfaction with school life
- more kind and helpful
- greater social integration
Social
- pro-social – more generous, kind and helpful
- supports the forming and maintaining of relationships
- It helps our kids
- Find: identify people who they can create quality connections with
- Remind: them of the goodness in others
- Bind: the friendships together as they feel appreciated. Which in turn encourages behaviours that can help prolong relationships”.[i] Algoe
As we shared, gratitude enhances our relationships. As a parent, think about the witness effect. Algoe, a researcher has shown that relationships are enhanced when we share our gratitude with another. Furthermore, the bond created not only extends to the person we share our gratitude with but also to anyone who witnesses us in the act of gratitude. Bring on gratitude in the home!
But wait…there’s more...
When we share our gratitude to other’s, they are more likely to go on and do nice things for others. Yes, gratitude can make the home...I mean world world a better place.
We practice different forms of gratitude at home with the girls. Some things we do include:
- appreciating others and what they do for us
- three good things
- what worked today
- mindful connection with nature
- gratitude meditation
And many more - there are so many lens we can use. I love asking the gratitude questions and watching the girls light-up as they share. It's like a happiness switch. Since know they be asked, they also start to look for things during the day. Lately, I've noticed more spontaneous sharing during the day; I think the slower pace is working for us all.
Our gratitude printables are a great way to keep your kids practicing gratitude in a fun way. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Algoe, S. B., & Haidt, J. (2009). Witnessing excellence in action: the “other-praising” emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(2), 105–127.
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389.
[i] Greater Good Science Center., The Science of Gratitude: A white paper prepared for the John Templeton Foundation by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, May 2018.