Grateful for the Places Our Kids Belong

By October, the rush of back to school has started to settle. New teachers aren’t quite so new, routines are becoming familiar and we’re beginning to see where our kids are finding their groove.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, we often think about the people we’re grateful for. But what about the places?

The classroom where your child finally feels comfortable raising their hand. Grandma’s house where they race through the door. The playground where they know exactly who they’ll look for. Or the activity they can’t wait to get to each week.

Having a place to belong is important for children. They need spaces outside of home where they can build friendships, connect with trusted adults, try new things, and discover more about themselves.

Extracurricular activities can provide that second community. Dance, for example, gives children the chance to move and be creative, but it also gives them a group of people to grow alongside. They learn everyone’s names. They notice when someone is away. They cheer when a friend finally masters something they’ve been working on. Slowly, a weekly class can become somewhere they feel known.

And if your child hasn’t found their thing yet, that’s okay. October isn’t too late to try something new. Sometimes it takes a few tries to discover the activity, people and environment that make a child light up.

This Thanksgiving, along with being grateful for all the people who love our children, let’s celebrate the places that help them feel confident enough to be themselves.

Because every child deserves somewhere they can walk through the door and think, “I belong here.”