How to Get Your Kids to Write Thank-You Notes
When your children receive gifts or gestures from friends or family members, you have an opportunity to teach some valuable lessons. Gratitude involves feeling appreciation for the generosity of others -- an important attitude for anyone to adopt. You can enhance and increase your children̵7;s gratitude by teaching them to write thank-you notes. By instilling the habit of writing thank-you notes in your kids, perhaps they will continue this habit into adulthood.
Things You'll Need
- Thank-you cards
- Engaging pens or pencils
Instructions
Explain the benefits of writing thank-you notes to your child to help her understand the importance, advises the Emily Post website. For example, when Grandma sends a birthday gift through the mail, she might wonder whether your child received it and whether the shirt was the right size. By sending a thank-you note, Grandma knows your child received it and that the shirt fit correctly. Sending a thank-you note also expresses gratitude and appreciation for the effort and gesture made by the giver, which is important for children to learn how to do, according to the ParentFurther website. Tell your youngster that because of the importance of demonstrating gratitude and thankfulness, you will require that she write thank-you notes before she uses a gift, advises psychologist Michele Borba, writing for the Character Counts in Iowa website. Provide thank-you cards and writing instruments that will appeal to your child to make the process enjoyable and interesting, advises the Scholastic website. For example, if your child enjoys sports, purchase thank-you cards in a sports theme. If your child likes cats, give her thank-you notes with cute kitties on them. A gel pen in a bright color can also make writing thank-you notes more enjoyable. Sit with your child before she writes a thank-you note to discuss what she might want to write in the note. By talking about the gift and how she feels about it prior to writing the card, you can help your youngster organize her thoughts and prepare to write. For example, if your child received a new pair of roller blades from a grandparent, talk about how she felt when she opened the gift and what she looks forward to when using them. Ask open-ended questions that help your child explore her gratitude and thankfulness for the gift. Suggest that your youngster write out her thoughts as a rough draft for the thank-you note. She should strive for two or three sentences to communicate her gratitude in the note. Once she finishes, you might proofread or edit it for her, if she wishes. Don̵7;t make spelling and grammar a priority, however. Encourage your child to write her thank-you note after she̵7;s planned what she wants to say. After she finishes the note, help her seal it in an envelope, address it and mail it.
