Teaching Your Kids to Say "Thanks"

There is an ever-growing phenomenon, these days that includes parents teaching their children how important it is to say "thank you" when given a helping hand, or a birthday or holiday present. After almost a generation where this was not prioritized as highly, the value of teaching children "thanks" has returned to the forefront of family life.

Indeed, this does include the regular habit of saying "thank you" when passed the salt, passed the door when entering a building, or when somebody has done you any other form of kind deed.

However, what is truly noteworthy - so to speak - is the reincarnation of the thank you note. Parents today, more than they have in decades, are now teaching their children that it is very important to send thank you notes when someone has done something, or given something special.

This is a very promising development, as it is bringing about a new generation of people who are much more comfortable writing thank you notes than even their parents were. Though some of these parents were taught the value of thank you from their own parents, the majority of today's parents taught themselves, after discovering how good it felt to receive thank you notes for the gifts that they have given.

Indeed, children struggle to find the enthusiasm to sit still and write thank you notes. They are still recovering from the rush of excitement they felt as they unwrapped their mountains of birthday presents. But by making sure that children take the time to put their appreciation down on paper, parents will be building valuable, lifelong habits from a very early age; a habit which will soon become a pleasurable activity, rather than a chore.

If you are trying to teach your kids to write thank you notes, there are seven kid-friendly techniques that can give you a head start:

1. Make it a family activity, instead of one that only the child has to perform. Schedule a time that everybody can write their notes together. This way, you can all work together, and reinforce the value of showing appreciation and respect.

2. Make sure that you write thank you notes, too. Nothing works better for habit building than being a good example for your kids.

3. Use kid-friendly note paper. Let your kids pick out the note paper they like, so that they will want to write on their special cards.

4. Be there to help you kids out when they write their notes. Answer their questions, and give suggestions when they want them. Don't worry too much about spelling and grammar. With thank you cards, more than anywhere else, it really is the thought that counts.

5. Praise your child for the effort s/he has made. Let him/her know how much this will mean to the recipient.

6. Be consistent. Make sure that thank you notes are a regular occurrence whenever gifts are given, and whenever something nice has been done for the child. Don't just "let it slide" because you child doesn't feel like it, and you don't feel like the battle. Stick to it, and your children really will thank you for it later.

7. Use pictures. Let your child select the photo of the event that s/he wants to include in the thank you note. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!