The 3 Main Steps on How to Teach Kids about Generosity
As children grow up, it’s important to teach them important traits and qualities. We strive to have children act kind, respectful, confident, generous, and so much more. That said, it can be quite difficult to figure out the best way to teach them these qualities, especially when it comes to generosity. It goes deeper than modeling generosity and asks us to delve into all the different ways we can act kindly. If you need some help figuring out how to teach kids about generosity, take a look at what we consider the three most important steps.
Talk About What Generosity Means
Your first step to teaching kids about generosity is talking about it! You can’t expect them to act and give generously if you don’t explain to them what it is and how to do it. A great way to begin is simply by teaching them what it means to share—it’s the foundation of a generous mindset. You can start by explaining how you’ll divide tangible things with someone. From there, you can expand and give examples of generosity: “Look at how Sarah is sharing her paint. How generous of her!”
The more you can give tangible examples of generosity, the better your child will know how to act generously in their own life.
Encourage Generosity
Probably the most important aspect of teaching kids about generosity is that you must encourage it. It’ll be very hard for this trait to continue through your child’s life if they aren’t given the opportunity to practice graciousness. For example, you can talk about generosity all you want, which will tell them what it is, but not exactly how to live that way. What you’ll need to do is encourage generous actions. Look for different opportunities for kids to give back and then, as time goes on, they’ll become more generous without a second thought.
The more opportunities you provide for children to delve into generous acts, the better they’ll get at being generous throughout the day!
Praise the Impulse and Follow Through to Give
The final tip for teaching kids about generosity and hopefully ingraining that trait relies on your praise. Especially when it comes to younger children, if they don’t experience praise from their actions, they’ll be less likely to follow through with those acts in the future. When children have the impulse and then the follow-through to act generously and give, then you need to praise them for that! Tell them good job for sharing or whatever giving act they completed. You can also help them by pinpointing and illustrating that positive feeling that arises when acting generously.
The more we praise positive acts, the more those positive actions will occur.
