The Holidays, Gratitude and the Youth Vote

All of us at Temescal Associates, the How Kids Learn Foundation, and the Learning in Afterschool & Summer Project wish you a peaceful and restful holiday! We are most grateful to all of you who work hard to support our youth in out of school time and the youth who voted in the 2022 mid-term elections. 

On Gratitude
“When you feel gratitude, you feel a sense of abundance. When you express gratitude—especially when it’s heartfelt—you strengthen your relationships with others. Grateful people are happier and more fulfilled. And gratitude leads you to be nicer to other people: more cooperative, patient, and trusting.

Think about how your day is going. How many of these things are true?

• I said “thank you” to someone.
• I did something nice to show my appreciation.
• I can list lots of people and things that I’m lucky to have in my life.
• I noticed when someone helped me.
• I felt a sense of thankfulness.”- Character Lab

Gratitude Activities
Below are some resources for gratitude activities.

• 31 Meaningful Gratitude Activities for Kids 
• 5 Ways to Practice Gratitude with Kids
• 8 Activities to Foster Gratitude with Children & Youth

“When you feel grateful, your moral compass becomes stronger. When you see other people commit transgressions, you hold them to higher moral standards. Your expectations rise.” – David DeSteno, ED Week

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”- A.A. Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh

Youth in the 2022 Mid-Term Election
“Elections are a valuable opportunity for young people across the country to make their voices heard, support action on issues they care about, and grow as active voters and leaders in our democracy. It’s clear that young people had a major impact on the 2022 midterms.” – Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)

The Power of Gratitude

By Guest Blogger, Allison Kenny, Co-Founder of Glitter & Razz Productions 

Allison Kenny

According to the Greater Good Science Center out of UC Berkeley, it’s a scientific fact that practicing gratitude makes us happier, healthier people. 

For the Go Girls! at Glenview Elementary, I frame it like this: “Gratitude is like a superpower. When you are feeling negative or angry or lost or sad or scared, try remembering the things in life that make you feel happy- the things that you are thankful for. These thankful or grateful feelings can lift you up and help you feel better. Gratitude makes us happy.”

Then we got to work making our very own Gratitude Journals. Simple. Tiny books. Girls love to fill them with sketches, lists, poems, watercolor, stickers- whatever they can get their hands on. And the focus is gratitude, or as I tell the littlest girls if they look confused, “parts of life that make you feel happy.” I asked the girls to choose a special place where they could keep these journals and come work in them when they need to use their power of gratitude. One 4th grader decided to tape hers to the back of her frog’s cage. Whatever works! Go forth and be grateful.

Check out a few tips from parenting expert and Go Girls! mom, Christine Carter on practicing gratitude at home with your kids.

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Allison Kenny is the co-founder/owner of Glitter & Razz and serves as the Chief Officer of People & Programs.  She has spent a good part of her life leading and participating in creative and community-based activities focused on personal transformation. Growing up in Phoenix, AZ as the dramatic and extroverted one in a house with 3 other sisters, she built her values through active engagement in softball teams, theater productions, show choir, and youth ministry programs. She was a natural leader from a young age who was particularly influenced by her role in WomanStory, a Phoenix-based organization that supports the spiritual and emotional development of women and girls in intergenerational, arts-based camps and retreats. To this day, she has a personal mission to create healing spaces for women.