Gratitude (2): Gratitude Tree (Thanksgiving)



Prayer:

Song: "A Song of Thanks" from the Children's Songbook page 20.

Discussion: We talked to my two about how important it is to say "thank you" to people when they do something nice for you. It makes Heavenly Father, Jesus, Mom, Dad and others happy when we express thanks.

Book: We read "Happy Thanksgiving Day!" together. I think this book does a great job of simply explaining things to be thankful for. My two loves when we make the book a part his life. For instance, we named the little boy in the book "Easton" and his dog "Reeks" (Easton's favorite stuffed animal dog.) This book also talks about being thankful to God for things we have. It's a great book for a toddler Family Home Evening.


Gratitude Tree: I heard about a Gratitude Tree from my neighbor and thought it would be a great way to teach my two about gratitude. You can find a free tree and blank leaves printable from Carrie This Home (pictured below) for this activity. I cut out all the leaves and put them into a brown, paper sack. My two drew a blank leaf and I asked him, "What are you thankful for?" For ideas, we looked at the book. "This boy is grateful for his dog. Are you thankful for your dog, Reeks?" My two said, "yes," so I drew a picture of Reeks on a leaf. Then, we stapled the leaf to our tree. I had my tworepeat, "I'm thankful for Reeks" and we moved on to our next leaf. These are the ideas we came up with to draw on our leaves: Reeks (dog), animals, Jesus, body, warm clothes, house, grandparents, family, friends, food, and chocolate milk. I taped our finished tree onto our fridge as a reminder of our lesson and left it up until Thanksgiving.



Testimony:


For other lesson ideas, please visit:

Family Home Evening Index
Christmas: 30+ Ways to Teach Children About Christ at Christmas Time
Gratitude (1): "I Will be Thankful"
I am a Child of God (2): Story (with visuals) & Crowns

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