Now that L is older, holidays are getting so much more fun! With Thanksgiving coming up, I wanted to be sure we all took time to be thankful throughout the month of November. I found this Thankful Tree in the bargain bins at Target — you can also make your own by taping construction paper in the shape of a tree on the wall. I wanted something that N couldn’t reach or tear apart, so I went with this simple tree from Target. [I haven’t seen them at Target since they switched everything over to Christmas stuff, so here are two versions you can get on Amazon if you don’t feel like making your own: Thanksgiving Door Kit, Thankful Tree Centerpiece.]
Every night after dinner, we add one leaf to the tree. L is two and a half. How do you explain a concept like “thankfulness” to a toddler? When we first started, I used these words: “What are you thankful for? What are you happy to have? Who are you happy to spend time with? What makes you happy?”
Now that we’ve been doing it for a couple of weeks, I simply say, “What are you thankful for today?” The words on our tree include: pancakes, family time, Nora, Lila, Mommy, Daddy, people, eggs, Jeffrey, Bash, Julia.
I think this will be a great Thanksgiving tradition for our family to take part in each year, and I can’t wait to see what L comes up with for the rest of the year!
Doing activities with my child is one of the things I’m so excited about in life. We do a lot now, but for him to actively do more as he gets into the toddler years is so exciting!
Lovely idea Angela!
I think we’ll start this tradition too. It will be nice to bring out old ones to read as the kids grow up. We wanted the kids to make a craft for Thanksgiving and were just deciding between these two (http://www.jumpstart.com/common/paper-roll-turkey or http://www.redtedart.com/egg-carton-turkey-craft-for-thanksgiving/), but I like your idea so much better!
Again, thanks so much. Brody my husband’s going to be happy I found a better craft. Hope you have a good Thanksgiving! Again, thanks!
Such a wonderful idea! I shall definitely try this! We are Indians living in America, but I love the concept of a festival that celebrates gratitude, thankfulness and togetherness and have been looking for activities that are easy to follow anywhere in the world and at the same time teach T all the values that the day stands for! I have been looking for a tradition that captures the essence of Thanksgiving -and this is so perfect! I love this blog- such a gold mine of great ideas!