Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to get our attitude of gratitude into full swing. It gives us a time to think about what we already have and show thankfulness without a lot of the hype associated with some of the other holidays. What a perfect opportunity to teach our children about thankfulness and gratitude! I have found some great activities that you can do with your kids that will help them understand and appreciate the special people and things in their lives.
Thankfulness Chain
The Joys of Boys site has a marvelous idea of making a Thanksgiving Advent Chain. It’s a simple paper chain with a few twists! For each link in the chain, list one thing or person that your family has been blessed with. Each day you and your family will remove one link and talk about that particular person or blessing. When you get to the last link, it will be Thanksgiving Day! How easy but oh so meaningful. Click here to get all the details.
Gratitude Stones
Fireflies and Mudpies is one of my favorite sites to find children’s activities. They have a simple nature craft for kids, Gratitude Stones, that can be used to cultivate an attitude of gratitude from an early age. All you need are stones, tissue paper and glossy Mod Podge, plus scissors and paintbrushes. It’s simple enough that even non-crafters can do it! You will end up with some pretty stones with hearts on them. They will be a physical reminder to count your blessings! Not only does this site have easy to follow directions for making your gratitude stones, but it also gives you ideas on what to do with them once they are made! You could pass them around your dinner table before eating, and have each person hold the stone and tell one thing they are thankful for that day. My favorite idea is what they call, “Spread Joy in your Community”. You scatter your stones around your neighborhood and community to spread the joy to others. Finding tiny hearts on stones is sure to bring a smile to other people’s faces. These are just two of the ideas this site has for using your gratitude stones. Click here to check it out.
And There’s More!
I found the links mentioned above on a site called Rhythms of Play. It has a list of 40 Thanksgiving Crafts and Activities for your use. There are pictures and videos to help you decide which ones you want to do. Click here to visit the site.
Do you have any Thanksgiving activities and crafts that our readers can do to help teach their children about gratitude and thankfulness? Please share in the comments section.
