Keep a gratitude journal
Start each page with the words “Today I am grateful for…” and write or draw what you are grateful for. When writing down what you are grateful for today, think about how this event (or person) has affected your life. Talking about gratitude can be a great practice over family dinner. Or they can be used with the class during online lessons at the beginning or end of the lesson.
Create a “Gratitude Bank”
Write on small pieces of paper what you are grateful for and put them in a clear glass jar. It is important that the jar is transparent, because then you see how the pieces of paper accumulate there, and imagine how many things have already happened that you are grateful for.
The next time you’re in a bad mood, you can pull a piece of paper out of the jar at random and remind yourself of what you’re grateful for. With the help of such a jar, you can play “Crocodile” with children – the child must show what is written on the paper, and the rest is guessed.
Reflection of good, or thinking about good
Think of someone who was kind to you or helped you. A friend or a loved one immediately comes to mind, but you should also not forget about strangers who did something nice for you.
A child might think of a stranger who works in a factory and sewed her favorite teddy bear. Or about the soldier who is now at the front protecting us.
Offer your son or daughter the following game: choose an object that the child uses every day, and think together about all the people who invented it, made it, sold it. With the help of this exercise, we encourage the child to think that we are all connected and that there are many people around who are trying to help him.
When you or the child has thought of this person, you can draw it, and then explain this good deed to everyone. As you draw and talk about this person, notice the transformation in your body and the change in your mood. Hearing someone’s stories of kindness and help also brings joy and lifts the mood.
Appreciation poster
The next step is to add the person’s name or occupation to your gratitude bank and, if possible, send them a thank-you note. There are many ways to say thank you – if you don’t know the person’s address, you can hang a thank you poster on your window and the person will read it as they pass by. Take a photo and post it on social networks.
“And what hasn’t been cancelled?”
Children can feel bad because so many events in their lives have been canceled – school, fun at the park, birthday parties.
Thoughts about all these canceled events worsen the mood and lead to anxiety, so you should try to switch the child’s attention to the positive side. Think with the children: what hasn’t been canceled?
It can be very simple things – smiling, walking all day in your favorite pajamas, playing with a pet. If you are doing this exercise at home with children, you can make a list of events that have not been canceled and hang it in plain sight as a reminder.
