My brilliant and creative cousin, who is a nanny for two precious girls, shared this awesome Thanksgiving craft on Facebook, and I had to share it with you (with her permission, of course!) I have been looking for something to do with the boys, that incorporates the beauty of fall and being thankful to God for our blessings!
Directions:
- Use brown paper or white paper painted or colored brown, crumple it up, and make the trunk and branches of the tree.
- Staple or pin the tree to the wall.
- Fringe cut some green or white paper, colored green, and attach it to the wall for your “grass.”
- Use fall leaf colored paper to trace and cut out handprints.
- Explain to your child what being thankful really means and how we all have so much to be thankful for.
- Each day in November, ask your child what he or she is thankful for and write it on a handprint, then attach it as a “leaf” for the tree.
I LOVE this idea and I’m positive my kids would love it, as well! Being thankful and appreciative of what we have is a major lesson for kids and adults, too!
Happy Thanksgiving! Do you think your child(ren) would enjoy making a 30 Days of Thankful Tree?
Bee
Saturday 9th of November 2013
I LOVE this idea. My older son and I used to do this every year. (I guess we started in 2001. I used leaf shapes then, but last year when I tried to do this with my younger son, the leafs just didn't work, so I was looking for new 'leaf' ideas. He loves the idea of using his handprint for this.
I thought of this back then as something to help my 7 year old, who was feeling like he did not have enough and wanting everything he saw, to understand that there were lots of things to be thankful for. The rest of the year I started a journal for him with a few key points: What was the worst thing about today?, What was your favorite thing about today?, and What are you thankful for today?. Not only did this help him find positive things about the day, but if he was ever feeling like things were just not going well, we had something to look back on to remind him that things were not quite that bad.
Thanks so much for the post.
Gena
Monday 11th of November 2013
That's a great idea!
Amanda @Natural Living Mamma
Wednesday 6th of November 2013
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing.
Hali
Wednesday 6th of November 2013
I'm doing fall, November themed crafts and love this idea. Think I'll do this today. Thanks for the idea. :)
Erin
Wednesday 6th of November 2013
Ah, that's a wonderful idea! I've done something similar with my daughter each year, just writing out what she is thankful for - each being a feather in the turkey's tail. Pinned!
Kristin Wheeler (@MamaLuvsBooks)
Wednesday 6th of November 2013
What great ideas for fall crafts! I love the FALL! You can use such pretty colors in your artwork!