The holidays are quickly approaching and it is truly my favorite time of year. I try to plan ahead so I have time to stop and reflect on all my blessings during the holiday season. It is so easy to get distracted with all my to-do lists and miss the true meaning of the season. Several years ago we started a fun little Thanksgiving tradition. We call it the “Tree of Thanksgiving”.
Thanksgiving guests are asked to simply write what they are thankful for on a little paper leaf. It gives everyone time to pause and reflect on their blessings for the year.
I place a small bowl of leaves along with a marker on the table so guests have an opportunity to create their leaf.
The kids tend to enjoy this traditional the most. They will spend a great amount of time reflecting on their blessings while trying to figure out what they will write.
Then each leaf is lovingly placed on the Tree of Thanksgiving.
What started as a small table centerpiece has morphed into a cute little tree in our family tree. Each year I decorate the tree with the leaves from years past. Everyone enjoys reading the leaves from prior years while reflecting on the changes that have occurred. It becomes a fun point of conversation as we reflect on our many blessings.
What you need for this project:
a tree branch- I simply cut one from the many trees in our area.
construction paper
a leaf template- I walk with the kids to locate the perfect leaves from our yard. We try to find leaves of the appropriate size with interesting shapes. Then simply trace the leaf pattern onto your construction paper.
scissors
a hole punch
ribbon- we use a small amount of ribbon for each leaf. The ribbon acts as our hanger.
markers
vase
Just a couple of suggestions:
- remind everyone to put their name on their leaf
- date each leaf
- the ribbon should be placed at the top when writing on the leaf. The first year we didn’t pay much attention to ribbon placement so the writing is upside down on many of our first leaves. 🙂
Enjoy this fun Thanksgiving tradition.
