How about a super simple DIY decor project you can rock for little to no money? I’ve seen these trees in several places around blogland (most recently by Cassie at Hi, Sugarplum!). They’re usually called “Thankful trees,” but I’ve done gratitude “exercises” with my preschoolers for years, and this seemed the perfect fit from the day I first spotted it.
Earlier this week, I brought in a flower bucket full of branches out of my yard. You can imagine the questions I got from my Little People! Over the past couple of days, my assistant and I had one-on-one conversations with each child about what they were grateful for. We wrote their answers down on die cut maple leaves (my old stand-by!), hole punched them, added yarn loops for hanging, and we had a free project (and lesson!) on our hands.
Today, they each hung their leaves and our bare branches became beautifully adorned with their little thankful thoughts. My favorite:
This would be a wonderful and meaningful family project, but it translates just as well to the classroom!
Beautiful, isn’t it? 🙂
So there you go ~ the preschool version! I might pretty it up just a bit, with some moss around the base and distribute their leaves more evenly, but it’s just sweetly beautiful as is right now. 🙂 I *heart* my job.
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And this arrived in my inbox today– woo hoo! Let the holiday inspiration roll!
Click HERE to be inundated with beautiful decor ideas for the holidays.
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And the winner of the Hostess Rewards from my Willow House Mystery Hostess party is Susannah Rogers! Susannah, I have sent you an email with the details of how to redeem your prize. Congratulations! Thank you to all who placed orders from the November Gift Sale. You can still take advantage of these great deals in my e-store until November 30, while supplies last.
Hope you all have a weekend full of blessings! Linking Up!
I’m visiting from Addicted to Decorating. Your thankful tree is a great idea. I think I will do the same thing with my fifth graders this week. Thanks for sharing!
At last! Someone who unedrstands! Thanks for posting!
Love it! Isn’t it hilarious what kids say they are thankful for. The best part of our thankful jar so far is hearing all the things Quinn is thankful for.
You saved me a lot of halsse just now.
Awe…. just looking at your classroom and knowing you~what an awesome teacher you are! Just the one that we all wish we’d had and the one those kids will remember 40 years from now. Aren’t kids precious, I love the Jesus one.
Amazing site! Many thanks for creating it. Keep posting that way.