The two 10-year-old girls must have been freezing outside the Ballwin Schnucks store, but it wasn't obvious to passers-by.

It was 34 degrees and windy. They were wrapped in bright fuzzy scarves, Santa hats layered on top of woolen hats and wearing big puffy jackets.

The girls were nearing the end of a two-hour shift that had started at 8 a.m. on a recent Saturday morning.

With their mothers standing behind them and the red Salvation Army bucket front and center, the foursome were ringing bells rather zealously. The girls were singing "Jingle Bells."

At one point, Anna Fairchild said: "It's so cold out here, Mommy."

Her mother, Christine Fairchild responded gently: "We're out here for two hours. There are people out here all the time."

The girls kept ringing and singing and smiling.

Christine, a 38-year-old oncology nurse, had been out here the night before with her teenager. Volunteering for the shifts through their church has become a family tradition. There are moments when she's reminded why they do it.

This cold morning, a middle-aged woman stopped in front of the bucket with a handful of change: "I don't have a job right now," she said. "This is all I can give, but I want to give something."

Christine wants her daughters to witness these moments of generosity.

Laura McDurmont, 42, of Ballwin, a project manager for Anheuser-Busch InBev, decided she and her daughter, Emma, would join the Fairchilds on this outing.

This month, the McDurmonts had visited a special-needs school to help children pick out toys. They brought donations to a local food pantry and made shoebox gifts for another child through church.

"Right now, you're pretty lucky," Laura has told her children. "But you don't know when your luck is going to run out."

Babies and toddlers are self-centered by nature, and our job as parents requires that we meet their needs. But even very young children can begin to understand how their actions impact others. And this awareness becomes even more important as they get older.

The antidote to entitlement is gratitude. Research shows that it helps to develop a child's sense of empathy and increases her own odds for a happier life.

But just like imparting any value or life skill, teaching gratitude takes time, repetition and reinforcement.

It also requires some discipline on our part. Parents don't have to buy every single item on a child's wish list. Sometimes it's just as important to not get what you want. Reflecting the cultural and economic mood, requests to Santa were simpler this year. More families pared back. There is a recognition that with too much stuff, things get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes, the more you give, the less it is appreciated.

Although the McDurmonts' financial situation is stable, they also decided to cut back on purchases.

"The things we do buy are more meaningful," Laura said. "We're going to church more and doing more service projects," she said.

They drew names with their extended family, rather than buy gifts for everyone. And, she's taken to heart her friend's philosophy on raising grateful children.

"For me it's not about telling them," Christine said. "It's about doing things with them that they can do."

Her cheery and chilly daughter may be the best testimonial to her effort. Anna said she's glad she got to ring the bell in the freezing temps: "I've been having fun doing it."

We rounded up some of the best ideas from various magazines and websites to come up with the 10 Best Ways to Raise Grateful Children:

1. Create a family ritual that recognizes your blessings. Ask everyone to make a list of what they are most grateful for and give every family member a chance to share their list. Make a game of going around the table and saying something positive in each person's life. Talk about the best thing that happened during the day. Realize your own good fortune and offer thanks daily.

2. Find opportunities to give. This can be as simple as shoveling a driveway for elderly neighbor or taking soup or cookies to a sick friend. The key is to get your child involved in the moment, even if it's in a small way. When you clean out closets at the end of the year, let them pick out a few of their own things to give to charity. Explain why your family gives and who benefits from it.

3. Show our own gratitude. How often do our children hear us talk about the nonmaterial things we appreciate? Do we verbalize, in front of them, how much we appreciate the thoughtful actions of a spouse, friend or teacher? Make an effort to point out others' kindness and nature's beauty around them. The way we behave toward others, the example we set with our own attitude, creates the most lasting impression on our children.

4. Cut back. Allow your family to experiencing what it's like to be without a convenience or luxury for a short period of time. Try one week without consuming any sweets, or using a car or eating out. A short period of time without things we take for granted increases our appreciation for what we have.

5. Limit gift exchanges with other children and families. If your children already get plenty of gifts during the holidays, suggest a no-gifts policy with friends from school or church. Or suggest that gifts be homemade.

6. Fight the frenzy on Christmas morning. Rather than encouraging a complete gift-wrap-tearing, free-for-all, allow each family member a chance to open one gift at a time. There should be a chance to appreciate the sentiment that went into each present.

7. Restock your own shelves. This strategy works great on birthdays, as well. Rather than letting your child open every single gift at once, let them pick two or three favorites and store the rest. They can be used periodically throughout the year. Some may not be missed at all and can be donated to a worthy cause rather than being played with once or twice and discarded.

8. Emphasize the experience of doing things together, whether its making cookies, decorating the tree, putting up lights or visiting relatives. Let your child record the experiences either through photos, a scrapbook or journal that de-emphasizes the gifts and re-emphasizes the spirit of the season.

9. Let them experience the joy of giving. Either by making a gift or shopping for a gift for loved one, let your child experience the pleasure of giving.

10. Give your children chores and responsibilities. Even the youngest child in the house should have a way to help out the family. Even if it takes them longer to complete a task than you would like, the act of participating creates awareness and appreciation for what others in the family do.