Our Thankful Tree
I love Thanksgiving. The food is amazing, the weather is usually crisp and cool, and Thanksgiving Day is the official start to the Christmas music season around here. All of these things make me happy. Especially the food. I’m daydreaming just thinking about it.
The one thing that occasionally gets lost around here amidst all of the tasty goodness, though, is the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving. And while I’m happy that the Pilgrims and Native Americans in Massachusetts made friends that first year, I mean the modern reason – to remember the things for which we are thankful.
To help the kids get excited and thinking about being thankful, we’ve started a new tradition this year – the Thankful Tree! I saw the idea on Pinterest and fell in love. So, this week, we got crafty. Pretty paper, ribbon, branches, and a favorite vase later, we had created our own Thankful Tree. Nathan and Emily had a great time helping me. They especially liked using the paper cutters. It was fun being crafty with them, particularly on such a simple project.
Now, each night, two of us take turns thinking of things for which we are thankful. The things get written on the back of a circle, and then the circle gets hung on the tree. Nathan loves it, so he is our nightly reminder to do it.
My favorite part, though, is that at random times during the day, the kids will start talking about the next thing they want to hang on the Thankful Tree. I love that they’re thinking about and talking about being thankful. Because that’s why we celebrate Thanksgiving.
What Thanksgiving traditions do you celebrate? How do you remind your little ones of the reason for the holiday?
