After the Snowflake Studio passive program success, I decided to introduce the Thankful Tree. I first shared it with families at storytime and then left it and the materials to create thankful messages in the kids library for anyone to add to. It’s filling up fast as adults and kids share the idea of gratitude (and strengthen early literacy skills!). I think of it as a cross-cultural way to celebrate the human spirit, remember our connection to each other, and reflect on what we value. We’ll leave the tree up for awhile and see what happens.

After 1 day, more than 20 messages have been added.

Materials:

• Cottonwood branches (from my yard) in various lengths to form a tree (Tallest is 4 1/2ft tall.)
• Tall vase filled with sand and a large rock for stability
• Cardstock or other paper cut into 4″ x 3″ or 4″ pieces
• Markers and crayons
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Ribbon or string for attaching the messages to the tree

Here are a few gems from the preschoolers…