With Thanksgiving around the corner, parents have been grateful for any tips I can give them to help their children learn about gratitude and its importance.

Thankfully I can provide some information on this topic.

Gratitude is about being thankful for the things we have. It is about pausing to notice and appreciate things we may often take for granted, like the roof over our heads, food on our table, family, friends, even access to a smartphone and technology.

It is about taking a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are when something good happens – whether it’s a big thing or a small thing.

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Proven benefits of gratitude

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Believe it or not, feeling grateful can be good for our bodies — and our minds too.

¯ Studies show that when we show gratitude to others, it enhances and benefits our emotional and physical health and wellbeing.

¯ Gratitude helps us boost our ability to want to learn new skills.

¯ It helps us make good decisions, be happier, less stressed, less depressed, and can even improve our sleep!

¯ In addition, if we are grateful for someone doing a kind act for us, we are more likely to be kind to others in return.

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Teaching gratitude to your children

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Here are some easy suggestions for helping your children understand and practice showing gratitude:

¯ Ask your children what they are thankful for each day at dinnertime or at bedtime.

¯ Teach children about the hardships of the past experienced by grandparents or other older family members.

¯ Taking them to a museum or historic site can make your children much more appreciative and grateful for what they have in the present.

¯ Older children can benefit from keeping a gratitude journal in which they write down three things they are grateful for every day or what went right that day for which they are grateful. This has been found to make children happier and more optimistic.

¯ And of course, at this time of year, teaching your children to find ways to donate their toys, clothes, or food to those who are less fortunate is a great way to show gratitude – as are finding ways throughout the year to help, share, or volunteer.

¯ Parents — don’t forget to be good role models. If you say thank you for something someone does for you whether it is serving your food or ringing up your purchase, your children will be more apt to say thank you as well.

¯ Remember to tell your children how thankful you are to have them as your kids, which goes a lot further than giving them any material gift to show your gratitude.

Hopefully tips like these will be viewed with gratitude when it comes to making sure gratitude is a key value emphasized not just on Thanksgiving but every day of the year.

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Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at the Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Health and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and MyNBC 5.