Preschool Thankful Trees

What are you thankful for? Most of us would quickly say our family or friends, or maybe our home. But what if we think a little further. Are you thankful for your heater? running water? a soft bed? food in the fridge? The best way to think simply about thankfulness is to ask a 3 year old. This month in my classroom we have been focusing more on thanking God for our blessings since Thanksgiving is coming up soon. We find ways to be thankful year round during our chapel time and by praying before meals but now it's specifically part of our curriculum.

My favorite kind of art project is one where the kids get to personalize it in their own special way. For this project I asked them what they were thankful for...(in a variety of ways so they would understand, because I know thankfulness can be a bit abstract for a preschooler.) The other preparations for this craft included cutting out leaf shapes from magazines and brown rectangles for the tree stump. Overall a very easy craft to make, and if you have older kids they could cut out their own leaves!

My favorite is the one that says, "Mommy, Daddy, God, Jesus, and Mickey Mouse" :)

Clothes Pin Christmas Card Wreath

How do you display your Christmas cards? Do you tape them to the stair railing? Throw them in a basket? Magnets on the fridge? Last year I put ribbon around my kitchen cabinets and used mini clothes pins to hold the cards in place. I liked that all right, but I'm always looking for new ways to be creative. A few weeks ago I was inspired by {of course} the one and only Pinterest. I found this wreath made out of clothes pins to hold Christmas cards so I thought I would give it a try... I was originally inspired by Craftiness is not optional but I ended up doing a few things differently.

 First, I painted all my pins with acrylic craft paint in red, green, and white. After letting them dry I wanted a little something more so I added stripes to the white pins and polka dots to the red ones. After that I found a wire hanger and {mostly} bent it into a circular shape. Then I put the clothes pins on the hanger and sealed the ends of the hanger with my handy glue gun and added some ribbon to cover the leftover wire.

Ta-Da! My final product. What do you think? Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Now to put it away for a few more weeks until I start getting cards in the mail!