11/25/2025
From Our Program Director, Crystal Higgins, M.S.
Fostering Gratitude and Happiness in Children:
When life (and my kids) get crazy, I have sometimes thought, “These kids don’t know how good they have it,” and wondered how to encourage more gratitude in my own home. Depending on where a child is developmentally, gratitude can be a difficult concept for children to truly comprehend, but there are some things that we can do to encourage it. First up, healthy habits such as proper sleep, nutrition, physical activity, and consistent routines are huge! Most of us will struggle with feeling good natured without this foundation. Next, modeling and practicing gratitude, as well as acknowledging and understanding our feelings is key. Life will certainly not be perfect or easy most of the time. Understanding this and building healthy habits and tools for coping is really important.
Did you know we have a whole program centered on these ideas? In the past month, we facilitated two Science of Happiness programs for a Girl Scout Troop and the YWCA. During these programs, we taught the girls some science around happiness. They made “happy bags”, which included a gratitude journal, ideas for creating their own happiness, and affirmation cards. They wrote a card expressing gratitude to a special person in their life, and made a Thanksgiving card for a person in a nursing home.
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