A simple craft.
A new tradition.
A Thankful Tree
I wanted our girls to have a way to express the things they are thankful for… BIG and small. Fun things. Silly things. Real things.
I wanted them to take time while they were tracing their hands, cutting out the shapes and building the tree to dwell on being thankful.
We talked about each word that they wanted to write on the thankful tree.
Why were they thankful for that one thing?
And it was such a fun, beautiful learning time for the girls.
And for me, as their mom, to get inside their heads, hear their hearts and have a great conversation with my girls.
Thankful for so many things…
1} Family members like Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, church friends and of course… toys.
2} Our Bibles
3} God’s Goodness
4} and God’s blessings in our lives
5} our new bikes {click there for some family bike ride tips!}
6} for Heaven and God’s Love and Life
7} for the people in our lives
8} Our house
9} Homeschooling, animals, air, food and beds
10} for little hands to teach and guide and love each day
that is our thankful tree.
Want to make one?
1} Hand Cut Outs – make your own with construction paper by tracing your kids’ hands and cutting them out or you can buy pre-cut hands (or these ones) to make it an easier, faster activity!
2} Keep your tree simple like I did or get this really cute one. Adorable.
3} If your kids are older and you’d still like to use this idea, this tree has a much more grown-up look and could be beautiful as a thankful tree.
Make it a fun, family night and you’ll have a great addition to your thankfulness lesson at church, your home decoration for fall or a side activity to your homeschool studies!
What does your thankful tree say?
Bravo!! Excelente idea, muchas gracias!!
Hi from Greece! I saw this craft and I loved it! Even though in Greece we don;t have Thankgiving I loved the idea of a craft that kids can express all the things they’re thankful for! So I have presented your craft on my blog with a link back here and all the credits to you of course! You can see it here http://maros-kindergarten.blogspot.gr/2012/11/blog-post_15.html . I would love your feedback!
Love your Thankful Tree. Such a wonderful way to count the blessings!!
Thanks for linking up today and joining in the Koinonia Community!!
I love your tree! It is huge! It looks like it will hold many blessings.
We did this when my children were smaller and your sweet post brought back so many memories. I may have to do it again this year! They are growing so fast!
What beautiful gifts to be thankful for!
Thanks for the inspiration … what a simple yet fun way to cultivate thankfulness this time of year … I am looking forward to making one with my kiddos soon!
I’m so excited I found your blog through the Tuesday Top 10, and thanks for stopping over at my place. Love that we can share the experience of having our first jobs be at Subway. 🙂
What an adorable tree, and a great idea. I think we’ll have to make one of our own too. Also, I nominated your inspiring blog for an award today!
http://karilb75.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-is-all-for-jesus.html
I love this! Saw this on another blog and think this would be so neat to do, although on second thought Alivia might not be trustworthy to be nice to our tree. Maybe next year? 🙂
I love this. Thanx for sharing I think we might try this one.
I like it! Great crafty idea, thanks for sharing!
I love this idea! I think I might borrow it for our girls – it would be a wonderful visual aid for them!
I love your tree!!!! We’re doing a similar project with my 4’s and 5’s at church. Today at homeschool Snug had a paper we did that had a poem and then he had to write what he was thankful for. After much consideration he decided “our kitty”. I love when they really THINK about what they are thankful for!
Thanks for sharing your tree!
too cute. such a great way to document this time of year. 🙂