It would not be wrong if the word ‘Thank you’ is called a magic word. This one word ‘Thank you’ reflects both humility and practicality. Parents often wonder how to incorporate this important word into their children’s habits. We have given the answer to this question of yours in this section on how to teach children to say thank you. There are many important tips related to this topic, with the help of which children can be easily taught to say thank you.
How to teach children to say thank you? Tips to teach children to say thank you
1. Explain the meaning of the word
To develop the habit of saying thank you to children, first of all they have to be told the meaning of this word. Yes, many children do not know the meaning of the word thank you. Let them know that this word is not just used when something is liked or something feels good. Make it clear that noticing even the smallest efforts made by someone actually means saying thanks and thank you. Thank you has nothing to do with how much you liked the help, gift or anything else done by the other person. After this becomes clear, children will start using the word thank you themselves.
2. Talk about feelings
Everyone wants their work to be appreciated and seen by others. Anyone who does anything for anyone always has this feeling in his mind. Tell the child about these feelings. Tell them how good it makes the other person feel when someone appreciates something they did. During this, give an example that when you are praised by your parents or someone else, as much as you like it, the person in front of you likes the word of thanks as much. Tell them that by saying thank you, they are giving a unique gift like a feeling of happiness to the people in front of them. This will help in teaching the child to say thank you.
3. Keep reminding
There is nothing better than practice to develop a habit of doing any work. This also applies while teaching the child to say thank you. Remind the children what is the magic word that I taught you yesterday. Then ask them to repeat those words. It takes time to learn good habits, so keep reminding the child of this from time to time.
4. Become a role model
If you want to teach children to say thank you, then you yourself have to become their role model. Children learn very quickly by watching their elders and also imitate them. In such a situation, if someone helps you with small or big household tasks, you will have to thank him. These words have to be said while speaking on the phone. With this the child will understand the importance of this word. If your child ever gives you something, smile and say thank you. With this, the child will also gradually start using these words.
5. Appreciate
Whenever the child says thank you, definitely appreciate it. Praise him and tell him that he is learning things very well. During this time, you can give her a sweet kiss or hug her lovingly. Apart from this, sometimes you can also give him his favorite thing for using the word thank you. But do not make it too much of a habit, otherwise the child will say thank you only out of greed or he will start demanding something in return for thanking you every time.
6. Explain the basics
Always tell the child that he is always the one who helps and gives gifts more than gifts or any kind of help. A person should never be judged by things. You can role-play during this time. Give the child a boring gift by putting it in a box. Such as pencils, gloves, socks, anything that he already has. After that ask him to open that box. When the child opens the box, explain to him that this gift does not mean much here. Rather, the effort of the other person has more value. Tell her that you didn’t like this gift, then you don’t even need to say I love this gift. Yes, but it is important to say thank you for the effort made by the other person while keeping a smile on your face.
Tell the child that if anyone gives you such a gift, he will not know in advance that you will not like it. He has tried his best for you. You just have to use the word thank you for that effort. Tell the child that during this time, while taking the gift, he can say thank you for thinking so much about me.
7. Be patient
Children do not learn to say words like ‘Thank you’ which enhance their personality in a single day. Actually, it takes time to learn good habits, so have some patience. If you try to inculcate the habit of saying thank you to your child in the ways mentioned above, then with time he will definitely say thank you to everyone. If the child does not say thank you, do not get angry at him. Keep explaining things to him lovingly.
Words like thank you, thanks, gratitude, thanks may be small, but they have a great impact on the other person. For this reason, it is important to inculcate the habit of saying thank you to children. Due to this, the personality of the child also improves and everyone likes his behaviour. These words that show gratitude towards someone actually enhance the personality of the children.
