Raise your hand if you struggle with how to teach contentment and thankfulness to your kids.
{I’m waving both hands wildly in the air}
Let’s face it. I’m a grown adult and sometimes I struggle to be content and thankful!
I want my children to learn how to be content with where they are and what they have. If I’m honest, most days I’m having “talks” with them and trying to convince them to be more thankful.
My “talks” sound something like this:
- No. You don’t need another stuffed animal when you have 50 others you don’t play with.
- Yes you got a toy the last time we went shopping but that doesn’t mean you get one on every trip.
- The only reason you want that toy is because your brother has it. Let’s share guys!
How in the world do I teach a concept like thankfulness to my kids?
It’s not as hard as you might think!
When it comes to kids, sometimes having a visual representation of a concept can help them understand it better. This is where the thankful tree activity comes in.
The thankful tree is a place you can document all the things you and your family are thankful for during the Thanksgiving season. It’s an activity you can do together and make a Thanksgiving season tradition. Plus this gives your kids a chance to work on fine motor skills like writing, cutting and taping!
The good news is I’m sharing the Thankful Tree Activity {Free Printable} to all my readers!
Here’s what you do:
First, fill out the box below to sign up & I’ll send you this printable activity right away!
Next, print the thankful tree and the coordinating leaves. I chose to print them on white cardstock to give them more stability. Each person can have their own tree or the whole family can share one.
With a black pen or thin Sharpie, write down one thing you’re thankful for on a leaf. Then cut out the leaf and tape it on the tree.
You can add one or two leaves to the tree each day or fill up the tree in one setting. It’s totally up to you! When Thanksgiving comes, we’ll each share all the things we’re thankful for.
We started out putting one leaf on the tree the first day. Then the next day we added more leaves. I like being able to add one or two a day and spread the thankfulness over time.
I decided to give each of the kids their own tree while the Hubby and I shared one.
Some helpful tips:
Don’t worry about cutting along all the edges of each leaf. This is designed to be an easy activity! Feel free to cut lazily around the delicate corners of the leaf like I did here:
Since the leaves and tree were printed on the same paper, the leaf blended in just fine.
Let the kids get involved as much as they can. My son is too young to write, so he was happy to help stick the leaves on to the tree. He was most thankful for his constant companion Lion (his creatively named stuffed Lion).
I love this activity because it gave my daughter a chance to work on her handwriting. She’s worked so hard to learn how to write all the letters of the alphabet in Kindergarten and it’s fun for her to see her writing in artwork.
The first two things she wanted to put on her thankful tree was her favorite stuffed animals, Lammie and Grover. Seeing her writing is just precious!
This is the kind of artwork we’ll look back on years from now and smile!
We got our thankful trees started and will add leaves to it as the month goes on. They’re being proudly displayed on our fridge. It will be fun to see what our thankful trees will look like at Thanksgiving!
Some other tips on teaching your kids thankfulness:
Be thankful yourself. If they see you constantly complaining about wanting a new car, a new this or that, they’ll pick up on that attitude in no time. Trust me. I’ve seen it in my own family!
Tell them your real life stories of thankfulness. Last year I did a whole Thankful Thursday series, telling stories of what God has done in my life. I love to share the story of how God made it possible for us to buy our home.
What are some ways you cultivate thankfulness?
This post shared at: The Best DIY Projects, Show Me Saturday, Skip The Housework, DIY Sunday Showcase, Share Your Creativity, The Makers, Link Party Palooza, Inspiration Monday, and Saturday Sharefest.
I love your tree so much more than others because it focuses on giving thanks to the Lord! Thank you so much for offering the free printable! I signed up and tried to download, but what downloads is a one page PDF with only the leaves. Is there a separate download for the tree?
Hi Kimberly–I really like that part too! The document was supposed to be one PDF with both the leaves and the tree. I’m so sorry about that! It’s all fixed now and I sent you a private email with the information how to access it.
I’ve been trying to find something along this line for my 7-year-granddaughter and 10-year-old grandson to work on while their mommy & I are busy with her first time of being in charge of our family Thanksgiving meal (my first to NOT be in charge of in over 25 years!). I want something they can share with the whole family and to get us involved. Thank you for sharing I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
I am SO happy I found this activity. I’ve been trying to find something along this line for my 7-year-granddaughter and 10-year-old grandson to work on while their mommy (my daughter) is busy with her first time of being in charge of our family Thanksgiving meal (my first to NOT be in charge of in over 25 years!). I want something they can share with the whole family and to get us involved. Long way of saying thank you and I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
I’m so happy to hear you’ll be incorporating this activity into your Thanksgiving this year! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know how much you appreciated this. It really makes my day hearing how my little ideas are helping wonderful readers like you!
Thank you so much for these printables. This is a wonderful idea!! I like your blog too. I will subscribe by my email so I won’t miss what you share.
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me how much you enjoyed the Thankful Tree Activity! I’m so glad you like what you see here–I work very hard to give my readers something valuable and encouraging!
This is sooo cute of an idea. Thanks for the free printable. Love it!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for taking the time to let me know how much you appreciated this. That really made my day!
I love this idea!! I definitely want to do activities like this with my daughter when she grows up 🙂
Lindi @ http://www.lovecreatecelebrate.com
You’ll have so much fun doing this with your daughter! I’m so glad to hear you like it!
Hi Carrie, I love your thankful tree. What a great idea! I think both of my kids would enjoy this. Thanks for sharing! Also wanted to let you know about a new linky party starting this Saturday at 8pm called “Found & Foraged” Can’t wait to party with you at http://www.houseofhipsters.com
I hope you get to do the activity with your kids! It’s been fun and really encouraging for all of us!
Thanks so much for inviting me to your new linky party. I’ve got you on my list so I’ll try to stop by on Saturday night!
Oh Carrie! This is precious way to teach our littles about what we should be thankful for. You have got to frame this and display their {and your} thankfulness each year.
Pinning! Thanks for sharing on Show Me Saturday!
{bug hugs}
~ Ashley
I love your idea to frame the trees! Thanks so much for pinning this Ashley!
Hey Sweet Lady!
You are one of my features for tomorrow’s Show Me Saturday party. 😉
{big hugs}
~ Ashley
How fun! You just put a big smile on my face! Thank you so much Ashley!