Shasta's Thankful Tree

I decided to make a Thankful Tree with Shasta where each day she could add something to the tree that she's thankful for. I thought it would be clever and cute to trace her hands and cut them out instead of cutting out leaf shapes, but I certainly learned my lesson and can guarantee that next year we'll be using the Cricut! Maybe we'll try cutting out hands again once Shasta's old enough to help with the cutting because it made my hand cramp! She also wasn't cooperative with having her hands traced, so I only did it once and then used them as a template.


My plan was to ask Shasta each day what she was thankful for, but I eventually decided to ask her several times a day and kept an ongoing list because she did better once she was in the groove of coming up with things rather than only one day at a time. I loved listening to her say, "faint you for" each time I asked her for another answer!

As part of the "craft" I let her color on the hands before she placed them on the tree each day. She loved getting to put them wherever she wanted. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, the masking tape wasn't sticking to the door and paper very well so some of the hands would randomly fall to the floor and I would usually place them back on the tree. By the end of the month I'm pretty sure I replaced each hand which is why it looks a little more uniformed compared to the first picture where Shasta had truly put each hand up.

Her list of things she's thankful for is so sweet. This craft was a little above her development so she didn't really understand what I was asking of her, but she still came up with some great answers. I would try to give her clues about some things to say by asking her what things we say in our prayers or try to get her to say certain things without giving her the answers, but she didn't take to my hints the way I wanted her to. I wanted it to be completely from her and not me giving her answers. For the most part her list is stemmed from looking around the room and naming what she saw. Oh well. Next year I think she'll get it more! It was still fun and I think it will be a great tradition!


In no particular order:

• Daddy
• Mommy
• Shasta
• Shelby
• Wedge
• Elizabeth (her middle name)
• Books
• Chloe (her cousin)
• Paper
• Candy
• Special Treat (slushy from Sonic)
• Beans (in her sensory table)
• Cereal
• Hansel and Gretel (a book)
• Apples
• Wall.e (the movie)
• Bag (a purse she likes to play with)
• Raisins
• Jesus
• Thankful Tree
• Lilo and Stitch (the movie)
• Chips
• Family
• Grown Ups Come Back (a song from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood)
• Hands
• Kaleena (Nick's sister)
• Horse (she signed it instead of saying it)
• Crayons
• Lucy (her doll)
• Saying our prayers
• Teddy Bear
• Milk
• Car seat
• Bubblegum (a stuffed elephant)
• Camera
• Snacks
• Church
• Pig (she signed it instead of saying it)
• Meili (her cousin)
• Toy car (that she can ride)
• Cake
• Lizzy and Robyn (friends from church)
• Frog (she signed instead of saying it)
• Shoes