This is a Gratefulness Practice for Children

Children love piggy banks — they’re intrigued by hiding coins away, the mystery of how many coins are inside and the fun of counting or dumping them out later.

A Grateful Piggy Bank works the same way — with one difference. Each time your child puts a coin into the bank, he thinks of something he is grateful for. It can be a possession, a quality, a person, a skill or anything else your child thinks of.  A variant on this is for you or your child to write a few words on a little slip of paper about something your child feels grateful for, then fold it and put it into the Piggy Bank.  You could even put both a coin and a slip or paper into the bank.

If your child uses coins, you may want to help your child plan how the coins can be used once they’re dumped out. Perhaps rather than spending them on toys or other material items, they could be donated to a charity. Or put into a savings account. But first count the coins together or admire and play with the pile, together taking in the sense of how many good things are here for your child.

If your child writes little notes (with or without your help), you can read the notes together when they’re dumped out, taking in each grateful moment for a second time.

You can buy, use or find a traditional piggy bank, or make a “bank” out of a box or cardboard tube, creating a coin-size slot on one end.  Be creative.

This gratefulness practice for children helps them become aware of all that they already have.  It promotes gratitude and generosity.  An interesting 2006 study found out of 24 positive strengths or qualities, gratitude has the strongest correlation to life satisfaction in adolescents. With practices like this one, you can help your child develop a grateful personality.

Reference
Park, N. & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the values in action inventory of strengths for youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 891 – 909.