We started this thankful tree last Thanksgiving and it was definitely something I wanted to do again and turn into a tradition. I loved the idea but felt the presentation needed an upgrade. So here is what a thankful tree is and how you can make one with your family!
What Is A Thankful Tree?
A Thankful tree is a fun way to document everything your family is thankful for in a beautiful display of a tree. It helps encourage the conversations around being grateful, appreciative and thankful. The idea is simple you start with a tree (could be as simple as a drawing or as elaborate as you like) then add leaves to the tree with something written on each leaf that you are thankful for! My girls loved participating and coming up with ideas and colouring and writing on their own leaves last year so I knew I had to do it again.
Things You’ll Need
- Twigs
- A Vase or jar to hold them
- Cardstock or paper
- Scissors or cricut
- Something to write with!
Gather the twigs
I wanted to use real twigs this year and upgrade our cardboard tree from last year. My girls love playing outside anyway, so this was an easy and fun task to send them on. They hunted our backyard for the perfect sized twigs and did not disappoint! In no time they had collected a huge pile of twigs to use. I put them in one vase and they looked a little sad, so switched it out for a vase that had a smaller top which made the twigs stand nice and tall and it was perfect!
Cut Out Leaves
You can buy paper leaves from a craft store, sometimes the dollar store if you’re lucky or hop on your Cricut like me, or even cut them out by hand. I used a fall assortment of colours in cardstock to give them so weight and cut out four or five different shaped leaves in every colour. Since I was using my Cricut for this project anyway I had it cut out a hole near the base so we could easily hang them on the twigs. You can do this on your own with a hole puncher or scissors.
Start The Conversation
You can leave leaves out for your family to fill in and hang on their own time and even invite guests to add one, or you can make it a family event. Going around and talking about what everyone is thankful and we use the rule you can’t duplicate any of the leaves, so it makes you think harder about all the things and people you have to be thankful for! On Thanksgiving you can read all of your leaves together. This was a fun new take on a tradition my grandmother started years ago, where we shared what we were each thankful for around the dinner table. It’s simple and easy to do and is a great way to teach children about gratefulness!
