Tree of Thanks

These days, with Christmas-talk starting as soon as the last "Trick-or-Treat" has been uttered, it is very hard to get kids as young as mine to focus on anything besides what they want for Christmas.  This has especially been the case with B who has had presents on the brain for weeks.  So this was my attempt at encouraging thankfulness and trying to at least put a damper on "I can't wait to get presents" talk!

Every morning at breakfast, I ask the kids to tell me something they are thankful for.  I cut several leaf shapes out of felt and write what the kids say on each leaf.  I let them pick what color they wanted their leaves to be so I can tell who said what by the color.  B picked green, and C picked brown.  In hindsight I wish I had not given those colors as options, but I will get to that in a minute.

My original plan was the put the leaves all over the kitchen, but after a while I ran out of places to put the leaves, and wasn't really wanting to complicate things by making something to hang them with.  So I just stuck them randomly about until the Hubs had a better suggestion.

The Hubs' suggestion was getting one of my Christmas trees down early and putting them on that.  Here is where I wished I had chosen different colors for the leaves.  I knew the green would not show up on a traditional green tree (and the brown wouldn't look great), so I told him to get the white tree that I usually put in C's room.  It doesn't exactly scream "fall" or "Thanksgiving" but I am happy with the finished product.  I grabbed a small plush turkey from the play room and stuck it on as a topper.  I had snagged the yard of burlap during a recent shopping excursion to JoAnn's, so I tucked it under the tree as a skirt.  Then I just laid the fabric leaves on the branches.

I have really enjoyed hearing what the kids are thankful for each morning.  There responses have ranged from sweet and heart-warming like God, Mommy, Daddy, their grandparents, and special friends to totally expected like toys and cookies to random and strange like milkshakes, Angry Birds, roads, and plates.  I can't wait to hear what they have to say the rest of the month!