Tip—Take advantage of seasonal and holiday events to teach your children about gratitude.

This time of year it is traditional to pause and take time to give thanks and appreciate what we have. It’s a great opportunity to spend some extra time with your children participating in seasonal events. A vast part of parental influence is established simply through spending time together. This is a fun time to build memories.

Tools—Start teaching your children about how to identify and express the feeling of thankfulness. You might ask them to think of a time when they felt thankful. In the picture book, The Way I Feel, author Janan Cain portrays a young boy holding a favorite toy and thanking his father for fixing it. You might ask your son to remember how he felt when he was really hungry one time and then ate a very delicious dinner. Ask your daughter to remember a time when someone gave her a wonderful present.

Then talk about the way people express feeling thankful.

Some say thank you with words, “Thank you—I really like that.”

Some express feeling thankful with actions—a big hug, a kiss, or giving a present.

Others say thank you by sharing their feelings, “I feel so thankful that I have these great kids to help me make dinner” or “I’m so happy when you help pick up toys—then I don’t have to do all the work.”

Ask your child to think of something he or she is thankful for and then decide on a way to express being thankful.

The Trading Game

As Thanksgiving draws nearer, we usually remember the first Thanksgiving where the settlers and the Native Americans gathered together in friendship and feasting. Read a story with your children about that time. Discuss the two peoples and how they lived. You can play this fun game (drawn from the Historical Activity Guide) to help children understand the “trading economy” the Native Americans used.

Materials: 8-10 small items per player. You can use small polished rocks, shells, pencils, erasers, small candies, bookmarks, marbles, etc. (Note: These items will be traded, so children must be willing to give them away)

1. Explain the game. We are going to play a game using these small items to find out what it is like when no one uses money.

2. Explain how a trading economy worked. The Native Americans did not use money. Common, everyday items were less valuable. Rare items, or ones that came from far away, were worth more. Since there was no money, you had to trade for what you wanted.

3. Designate a value for the items.

   
   Perhaps you will decide that one pretty shell is worth two of the more common pencils. If the candies are a prime commodity, perhaps one of them will be worth two marbles.

4. Demonstrate how the items are valued. Hold up two items and ask your children to tell you which is more valuable. Repeat with other pairs until they get the idea.

5. Begin trading. Start by having half the players spread out their items and the other half can be “shoppers.” Then switch roles.

You’ll find more practical tips you can use right now in The Way I Feel by Janan Cain.

hardcover board book

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