Thanksgiving Trees

 I work in a private school and in my afterschool class of 3rd and 4th graders I began a project with the kids. They each had to make a tree, of their own design and choosing , and then we would add leaves every day they came to after school. Different schedules exist, so the trees would be having varying amounts of leaves by Thanksgiving. On each leaf they would need to write something they were thankful for.

The task was well received and not much grumbling occurred, which was a good sign for any teacher throwing out a creative idea! There are about 25 kids total, and I placed the trees as a Bulletin Board, so the children took my project seriously. Some painted a big, fat brown trunk of an obvious hardwood tree, and then there was a random palm tree from my resident creative girl. She intended to place coconuts, rather than leaves, all without asking or commenting. She also added a flamingo and a blue sky :-) ! I got a couple of pine trees, "no, you may NOT decorate them for Christmas yet!" and several thin, elegant types. All in all, I was pleased with the first step. They were due November 1st and ready for me without exception.

The leaf making had directions , of course, since to know me is to know I come with instructions. They had to be written on neatly and in ink,  and given some thoughtful, thankful moments before producing a leaf.(or coconut ). I told them the end result should resemble a real tree, so that eliminated the purple leaf, it was done again in a more tree like shade of orange.

My first batch of leaves were interesting , to say the least, and believe me, it was difficult rejecting a leaf that just said BOOK. "You are thankful for BOOK?!?" I exclaimed, whereas little person of boy gender said, " well, I read one in class ".  But reject it I did, and back came a leaf entitled LIFE. "I think you might have missed the part about specific thankfulness," said I. "I love LIFE ," said he. The tree leaf was accepted.

Each day the kids eagerly ran into the classroom, and before I could say a word, scissors were cutting, and little minds were working. It was exciting seeing how they thought and thought and came up with MOM. One girl asked me, "Mrs. Ribeiro, can I just make a bunch of leaves and add the names of all my cousins and second cousins?" :-) [insert her grinning face]
"No." I've been through a few lazy kids in my day.

Occasionally I was touched by very sincere leaf-like the one that said "thank you my cousin doesn't have cancer anymore".  But that was offset quickly by the little man who insisted he really was thankful for lacrosse, hockey, football, baseball,golf and rugby. ..and could he add another sport tomorrow? I limited sports thankful leaves to 2 !

There were several Mom leaves and only one Dad represented in thankfulness ~ is this an indication of mom being more nurturing or mad if her name wasn't there when she saw the tree? I wondered.... I was also interested in how many leaves said God and Jesus (always separately), and in our very exclusive school, happy to read 'thankful for my education'.

On the last day of school, one young girl, who had spent days on an intricate tree that far outshone any other tree in my forest,  asked me if she could be more thankful and write lots more leaves? I love all of my children so much, and yet at that moment she was my very favorite! It also didn't hurt that one of her leaves said, Mrs. Ribeiro  :-)

Imagine asking that of God when we celebrate Thanksgiving Day this year?
"Oh God, Maker ad Giver of all that sustains me, can I sit awhile and be more thankful, taking more time for gratitude,  thanking You for all Your gifts to me, and then consume that turkey and excess of food You have so kindly provided for me?" 

By the end of the month , the kids were unable to stop thinking of things they were thankful for!!
Do you think we can develop our attitudes of gratitude as easily as covering a tree with leaves?

Life. Food. Clothing. Children. Grandchildren. Paul.Allison. Isabel. Ava. Luke. Steve.Becca. Aidan. Evelyn. Lucy. Joel. Margie. Eliot. Simon. Jesse. Nora. Bianca. Rachel. Aric. Adam. Julie.       Ethan.Thomas. Joshua. Andrew.  Salvation. God. Jesus. Holy Spirit. Flowers. Sunsets. Home. Work.  Friends. Health. Church. Education. Books :-) .Music. Colors. Fragrances. Sounds.  Memories. Laughter. Seashore. Oceans. Mountains. Rivers. Forests. Computers. Sunny my Suburu.
Apryl my Cat. Glasses. Doctors. Medicines. Coffee. Chocolate. Steak. Janet. Tim. Paula. Cyndi. Brian. Nancy. Mom. Dad. Nephews. Nieces. Aunts. Uncles........love, joy, peace, kindness,........

My forest is full of foliage.