Thankful Tree

UPDATED PHOTO
It just looks prettier and prettier each day!  Here it is this morning (11/8/12)

I can't lie, my family is very excited about Christmas.  We love the excitement of the season, and can't wait to begin our Advent activities.

That being said, we want to be sure not to skip over Thanksgiving.  We are so incredibly blessed, and want to dedicate the next few weeks to truly focusing on those blessings and being thankful to God for His provision.

We decided to make a "Thankful Tree" to help us concentrate on the many things we are, indeed, thankful for.  Our tree is about 4 feet tall and is a focal point in our living room.  

I used brown gift wrap/packing paper for the trunk and cut the leaves out of construction paper.  The leaves aren't pretty, but the thoughts on them are absolutely beautiful!  Every day between now and Thanksgiving, the four of us will each write something we are thankful for onto a leaf and attach it to our tree.  By Thanksgiving, there will be 88 things to thank God for on our Thankful Tree!!  

Tip:  Japanese Washi tape comes right off the wall leaving no marks and causing no damage.

Foil Art

Pinterest Challenge Day 5

Today's project didn't quite turn out as expected.  We tried to use Elmer's School Glue, which dried very flat.  Additionally, I realized after we started that I didn't have regular foil.

We'll make these again using the correct supplies, but I think you can get an idea of what they will look like here.  I'll do another post when we redo this project, including a step-by-step tutorial.   

Fall Tree Silhouettes

Pinterest Challenge Day 3

The kids started by painting the backgrounds onto white cardstock with yellow, orange, red and pink tempera paint.  They used various brushes and tools to get the effects they each wanted.  Once the paint was dry, they added their black trees.

This was a simple, but fun project that both kids enjoyed a lot!

Candy Corn Counting Game

I found an adorable Candy Corn Counting Game last week on Pinterest, but the link I had was just to the photo, and not the original post.  I had been unable to find the original post, but finally found it today.  This was, however, after recreating the printable and blogging about it.  I was going to take down my blog post, but instead decided to edit it and leave it up, as I made a slight change to my game board.  The original game is adorable and is available by clicking here.  


The reason I changed it is that I am working on number recognition with Super Tot and wanted him to be able to see the numbers.  They are covered by the candies on the original game, so I created a version with the numbers still showing.  My printable is available below.  

I printed mine off landscaped, then cut the page in half and mounted the two sides back to back onto orange construction paper.  

We used a single 12-sided die, but you could also use 2 standard 6-sided ones, as well.  In that case, you would allow the child to choose whether to throw one or two for each turn.  If the die lands on a number that still has a candy, your the child gets to eat the candy.  If the die lands on a number that already has the candy removed, their turn is skipped.  There are no winners with this game, as everyone gets their own treats!  Enjoy!


Linking to:

Sun Scholars

No Time for Flashcards

Mom to 2 Posh Little Divas

Our Country Road

ABC & 123

Thankful Turkeys

Let me start by saying that I LOVE Christmas.  It is my favorite holiday and I love everything about it.  We take December off of school and spend the entire month focused on celebrating Christ and living out His example to love others.  We are intentional about doing that all year, but it is distinctly special as we celebrate Advent.

That being said, I try to be very deliberate about not skipping over Thanksgiving.  Not only do we spend November talking about what we are thankful for and the many incredible blessings the Lord has granted us, but we also do specific Thanksgiving or thankful crafts as a concrete way of remembering those blessings.  Yesterday, we made our Thankful Turkeys.  It was a fun project that both children loved, and I think the finished products are adorable.  Princess named them "Petunia" and "Picasso."  I'll bet you can figure out why!  

Let's start with Super Tot's "Picasso."  I had everything laid out for him and sat with him to complete his craft.  First, I put a dab of glue on each foot and pointed to where he should place them.  I think he did a fantastic job!  Next, he picked out his turkey's eyes from a sheet of adhesive eyes I picked up over the summer.    

Although he put them both on sideways, I was impressed at his placement.   

I put the glue on the beak and waddle for him, and he placed them on his turkey.

Next, we moved on to the feathers.  We were writing one thing on each feather that he was thankful for. I would ask him if he wanted me to write a specific item and he would say yes or no.  He ended up saying yes to:

1 - Mommy

2 - Daddy

3 - Sissy

4 - Zeppy (one of our cats)

5 - Minky (our other cat)

6 - Trains

I wrote one on each feather and gave him markers and stickers to decorate them.  He loves to use both of these, so he was thrilled.

Once he was done decorating each feather, I put some glue on a small piece of poster board and let him place the feathers on.

After each feather was in place, I pointed to the "middle" and asked him to glue the turkey's body there.  He did a pretty good job!

It's a little cubist in style, but I love it!

Princess was also excited to do her Thankful Turkey.  I had her supplies ready in one of her snack workboxes.

She put red glitter glue "toenail polish" on her turkey's feet.

Then she made a red bow for her head.

She even used a little gold to make a ring for her turkey.  

This was a very simple, yet super fun craft for both Princess and Super Tot.  Here are the finished products!

For more fun fall craft ideas, click here.  

For more Tot School ideas, click here.