Preschool Activities Promoting Thankfulness

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, you're probably looking for fun new ways to introduce the idea of thankfulness to the children in your child care program.  Here are a few neat ideas we recently found:

Thankful Placemats
Give children sheets of paper and ask them to draw pictures of people, places, or things they are thankful for.  You may need to explain what "thankful means."  A child friendly definition is, "you're happy you have this person/thing in your life."  With children's permission, you can write explanations on their drawings, naming the people, or jotting down what the child said about his artwork.  These placemats can then be laminated and used at meals and snacks during the week, then sent home before the holiday break so families can enjoy them.  Idea found at e.how.com.

I'm Thankful Each Day

This wonderful book by P.K. Hallinan could be left in your classroom library all year.  The simple words and illustrations can be understood by the youngest children in your classroom, and they promote being grateful for material and non-material blessings we each have in your lives.

Make a "I am Thankful For..."Book
There are many ways to make books in your classroom, whether individual books children can take home, or classroom books you'll leave in your library and share over and over.  Kinderplans.com has a free printable book about thankfulness that you can allow each child to personalize.

Gratitude Journals
Oprah Winfrey made journaling about five things we are grateful for each day a popular activity with many adults.  You can pass this practice along to children in simple ways.  They could be encouraged to draw or write in a journal each day about what makes them feel grateful.  Or, you could have children share ideas as a part of circle time each day.

Service Projects
As children express things they are thankful for, we can begin to teach them about helping others who may not have these things.  Encourage children to come up with ideas about how they could help others during the holiday season.  They might want to collect canned foods for a food pantry or practice a short program they could perform at a nursing home.  Follow their lead, and help them carry out the plans they'd like to pursue.

Some Fun Holiday Ideas

It's that time of year when adults are busy making preparations, and children are excited about the upcoming holidays.  Here are a few cute, fun, and educational ideas we found that would be great to do in the next couple of days with the children in your care.

One of our accreditation facilitation programs was making these ornaments as gifts for families this month.  Instructions are also available at All Free Crafts.  This dough is non-toxic, and it smells wonderful!

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Supplies
cinnamon
apple sauce
craft glue
cookie cutters (or cut by hand using plastic knives if you like)
ribbon or yarn
plastic drinking straw
Additional materials for decorations such as glue, paint, pipe cleaners, buttons, beads, etc...

Instructions
Mix equal amounts of apple sauce and cinnamon and add 1 teaspoon of craft glue for every cup of applesauce.  Nutmeg or ground cloves can also be added if desired.  Let the children take turns measuring and stirring the ingredients.  Note that the dough may be too sticky, and you may need to add more cinnamon until the dough is easy to work with by hand.

Give each child a lump of dough to work with.  Roll or press dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut shapes with cookie cutters or shape freehand. Use the straw to poke a hole at the top of each ornament. (Adult may have to help with this.)  Place ornaments on a cooling rack or tray to dry completely. Depending on how large your ornaments are, drying could take a couple of days.  You can also put the ornaments on a cookie sheet and place in a 200 degree oven until dry.
Once your ornaments are dry, tie a ribbon or yarn through the hole and, if you like, you can paint these ornaments or add other decorations.


These fun and educational snowmen are from Teach Preschool.  Check out the site for lots of great photos and details about how they did the project.

Five Senses Snowmen

Materials
construction paper
sandpaper
wiggle eyes
small candy canes
jingle bells
cinnamon
scissors
glue

Instructions
During group time, discuss the five senses, sharing materials as examples of things that use each sense.  We can see the paper and wiggle eyes.  We can taste the candy canes (though these aren't for eating!  Consider having some the children may eat on hand.)  We can smell the cinnamon, hear the bells, and feel the sandpaper.  Share some photos of snowmen as well, and place the materials in the art center, encouraging children to create a snowman using the materials.  Let them be creative!  The idea is to use the materials as they wish and to stimulate the five senses.  The goal is not to have a classroom full of identical snowmen.


For a tasty, healthy snack the children can help prepare, this cute idea from Little Wonders Days is fabulous.

Christmas Tree Fruit Salad

Ingredients
green grapes
other small fruits such as red grapes, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, mandarin oranges, star fruit, or cut up kiwi.

Directions
This program used a tree-shaped tray, filled it with grapes, then used the other fruits to "decorate" the tree, placing a slice of star fruit at the top.  Look at this great photo!  Other ideas, in case you don't have such a tray, include using icing or cream cheese to stick fruits in a tree shape on a cookie sheet or plate, or simply allowing kids to enjoy the festive holiday colors as they create and eat their fruit salad.