Family Tree of Thankfulness
I recently saw these beautiful marbled leaves from Little Wonders’ Days. They were a little on the messy side but we had lots of fun making them together. After they were dry, we wrote something that each of us are thankful for on each of the leaves (we each got two) and made our very own Family Tree of Thankfulness!
Here’s what you’ll need: Large white paper, brown construction paper, our Leaf Template printed on cardstock, scissors, shaving cream, craft sticks (which we received compliments of CraftProjectIdeas.com), and various colors of acrylic paint (I didn’t have red acrylic paint, so I had to use tempera).
1. Cut out the leaves from the template.
2. Put some shaving cream into a shallow bowl.
3. Add squirts of paint and give your kids a craft stick to swirl the mixture around.
I think we might have swirled a little too much…but they still turned out pretty!
4. Place the leaves white-side-down into the shaving cream and paint mixture.
5. Let them sit for at least a few minutes.
6. Take a clean craft stick and scrape all of the excess off.
What’s left is beautifully marbled paint! Let them dry completely.
7. Cut a tree trunk shape out of brown construction paper.
8. Gather your family and have each person say 2 things that they are thankful for.
9. Use a black marker to write them on each leaf.
What does your family do to promote a spirit of thankfulness?
I love this. Thanks so much for sharing.
We started our own (way less cute) version tonight. We’re going to add one leaf a day until Thanksgiving. Since I am sentimental, I am trying something different this year. I went ahead and put my tree on a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper so I could slide the finished product directly into my Project Life album after Thanksgiving. I am so glad I will be able to keep the real thing to look at later!
What a wonderful idea. I’ve colored leaves with rolling marbles, but never tried the shaving cream and paint method. Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing, Renee
I love this idea! Good, colorful, tactile fun for the little ones, but with a wonderful message about thankfulness too!
This is just beautiful. I love the fun leaf painting and it’s so lovely to take the time to say thanks together as a family.