When it’s the beginning of the year, time seems to go by relatively slowly. The first six months of the year always seem to take the longest to pass. And then July 4th comes and the rest of the year speeds by. I think it’s because there are so many holidays packed into the second half of the year – July 4th then school starting (admittedly not a holiday, but a celebration for parents none-the-less) Labor Day then Halloween then Thanksgiving and before you know it, it’s Christmas and New Years! So we are constantly planning for the next big event and day of activities. For us, throw in my son’s birthday in December and we are constantly looking forward to what we need to do next.
When you have little ones, you are trying to make each of the holidays special and memorable. You want to make sure they are all set for school, that they have the perfect Halloween costume, and that they experience the magic and family of the winter holiday season.
One of my husband’s favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. He loves the food. We started the tradition a few years ago by having a Thanksgiving potluck. Anyone is invited to come to our dinner, the only requirement is that they bring an appetizer, a side, or dessert. I make the turkey and the best green bean casserole.
While my husband really enjoys the food, I really enjoy the family. I enjoy having everyone over. Admittedly, I love playing hostess. It stresses me out, but I love knowing that I’m providing a place for people to laugh, talk, and enjoy time together. I enjoy this annual reminder to be thankful for all the people who surround me and make my life the wonderful one it is – both family by blood and family of the heart.
I would love for my children to experience this annual reminder as well. Our lives have been blessed with so many things for which to be thankful, I want my children to recognize and be gracious about the lives we have.
Enter the thankfulness tree.
Thankfulness trees can be done in all kinds of ways. You can do it as a single printed sheet with a blank tree that they write things and people that they’re thankful for on the branches. You can often find small templates at craft stores that include a poster with a tree and leaves that the kids can write what they’re thankful for and tape them onto the tree.
This year, we are going to make our own tree to keep up for the whole month, that way as the kids think of what they are thankful for throughout the month, they can attach a leaf.
Supplies:
- Brown, green, orange, and red construction paper
- Painters tape
- Markers
- Basket or bowl
- Scissors
Depending on how large you want your tree to be is how much brown construction paper you will need. This year, I wanted to make it big enough for a month’s worth of leaves.
Also depending on the size, you might use masking tape to connect the different sections of the tree.
Directions:
1. This is the part that is the easiest for little hands to help with. Use the brown construction paper to create the tree. You want to roll and crumple to create the trunks and branches of the tree. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you want to create longer pieces that you can bend to create crooked branches. You can even tear the paper into shorter pieces to create branches that are different lengths.
2. Using the painter’s tape, attach the tree sections to your desired location – a wall, for example.
3. Cut leaves out of green, orange, and red construction paper. If you want to add a personal element to it, you can trace your little one’s hand to get the shape like a maple leaf.
4. Pile all the leaves into the basket or bowl with a marker and encourage your children to write something they are thankful for on the leaf.
5. Each time they write on a leaf, use the painter’s tape to attach the leaf to a part of the tree.
I like to start by each of us doing a leaf, that way they know what they’ll be trying to think of throughout the month. It can be material goods or people. You can really be thankful for anything. Leave the basket or bowl of leaves somewhere where they can access it. If they can’t write yet, I recommend not leaving the marker in easy reach – lest you find marker drawings on your walls – but the leaves can be access so they can bring one to you when they think of something.
This is a great chance to remind ourselves and our children of how fortunate we are and prepare ourselves for the season of giving.
Have fun this month getting ready for a whole bunch of food and reminding ourselves why we are lucky.