thanksgiving

6 Gratitude Lessons That Last The Year Round

6 Gratitude Lessons That Last The Year Round

Thanksgiving is the time of year that brings gratefulness to the forefront of our minds.  However, it is important to teach our children to be grateful year round.  Thanksgiving is a great time to introduce grace, charity, and gratefulness concepts that can be encouraged throughout the year.

Pilgrim Hat Craft and Gratitude Banner

Pilgrim Hat Craft and Gratitude Banner

This week T has been a little under the weather, so we took it as an opportunity to do more sedentary, quiet activities. This week we made two projects: a pilgrim hat and a gratitude banner. These are two easy and fun projects. T is starting to use scissors in school so he was able to help with some of the cutting for these projects.

Thanksgiving Food and Fun

Every year the T monster and I do a thanksgiving craft. I also always make fried apple pies every thanksgiving. This is a big hit in our family and always requested. What's awesome is they are so easy to make! This year I thought I'd share some of our traditions with you!

First let's start with the craft. This year we made a:

Paper Plate Turkey

What You Need:

Paper plate

Washable paint

White paper

Orange and red construction paper

Googly eyes

Glue

1. Let your toddler paint the white paper. There are no rules here. Just paint whatever wherever. Meanwhile, I painted the plate brown. Older kids can probably do this themselves.

 2. Cut out a beak from the orange construction paper and a wattle from the red. Your toddler can help you glue these onto the paper plate along with the eyes.

3. Once your child's painting finally dries (this can vary depending on paint usage), cut feathers out of the painted paper. Glue the feathers along the top of the plate.

 4. Show off your finished turkey to everyone and anyone!

Next, we have the apple pies. These are super simple to make and the recipe is easily multiplied for larger batches.

Fried Apple Pies

Ingredients:

1 can Grands Buscuits

2 green apples (I like Granny Smith)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

Vegetable oil

1. Peel and dice the apples.

2. Apple is a sauce pot and mix in cinnamon and brown sugar. Heat until warm.

3. Roll out the biscuits into discs. Place a heaping spoonful of the Apple mixture in the center. Coat the edge of the disc with water and fold over to seal.

4. Heat vegetable oil in pan. Once hot fry pies 2 at a time until they are golden brown. This should take a few minutes per side.

5. Set on paper towels to cool. Enjoy!!

Both the food and the craft are super easy to make and they both were a hit!! The apple pies make a great on the go snack as well!! Hope you try these and let me know how they turn out!!

Enjoy!!

Emily