Thankful Fairy
Welcome to a season of thankfulness (which really is every season, right? ;)). We adore creating this fairy for everything we are thankful for in our lives. We start thankful thoughts with a fairy that notices things to appreciate. From the very small little things like saying “please” and “thank you” to the very big things like air and mountains, the world is filled with amazing things to appreciate.
After making a fairy, we create a space for collecting gratitudes. Writing gratitudes is perfect for craft time at home, writing at school, or homeschool curriculums. Collections can be created many different ways. We’ve made a book by folding paper in half and threading it together along the spine. Click here for more ideas for sewing a book. Actually, as I reflected on how we made these books, I realized that we didn’t sew the Gratitudes together until the end, so busy beavers could have thirty pages while slow and steady learners could have seven pages and not feel intimidated by blank emptiness waiting to be filled.
We’ve also written ideas on leaf-shaped papers to hang on branches for a Thankful Tree. And written on little slips of paper to collect in a box.
The amazing thing about taking note of appreciation over time, is that kids notice more and more things that inspire their gratitude.
We would start pages for a book, then, after collecting them for a week or two, we would bind them into a book. At first, children might struggle to notice a gratitude. Or they would go silly. I wouldn’t judge their choices. Everything is an important things to notice. And children move from idea to idea quickly. So the next day, perhaps they would settle into deeper connections. And, inevitably, they would have a collection of ideas that brought them pride, and maybe a few smiles too.
Easy ways to make projects for many ages and different learners
Start with loose pages. That way they can collect without running out of room or getting overwhelmed by blank pages.
For children who haven’t learned to write, an adult can write the sentences. Students enjoy reading their books no matter who writes the words.
Younger learners, or learners who can use writing support, may benefit from an adult writing I am grateful for ….. on each page.
Those learning to write can trace the letters I am grateful for … to practice. Or they can fill just the ends of sentences if tracing takes too much time.
Add drawings. If you write, I am grateful for family at the top of the page, an illustration of family adds to the magic.
Fairies love to help write the books or slips of paper. They also love to hear them read aloud. And by making gratitude a daily practice, children aren’t surprised by the question, “What are you thankful for?” And cultivating a sense of gratitude is a lifelong trait that brings happiness to children, their adults, and the fairies :)
What are you grateful for?
Speaking of that, it’s fun and wonderful modeling to create a book with the children. The more gratitude, the merrier.
We are grateful for you!
And directions to make the Autumn Fairy (perfect for gratitude) is in the Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons* book.
Gratitude is appreciated all year :)
*affiliate link- should you choose to purchase, a small amount returns to the forest while your price remains the same.
So Thankful
We appreciate all the magic. The creativity. The support. The sharing. The love. The wonder. The delight. The laughter. The surprises. The adventure. The ideas. The colors. The surprises. The gifts. The joy.
So much gratitude. We hope you get to spend the day with family and friends, enjoying lots of treats and laughter. Happy happy!
Thankful
This year brings so much gratitude. We are thankful for our book and sharing our book.
We are thankful for seeing our crafts made around the world.
We are thankful for the photos of fairies and owls and critters sewn by children (and adults).
We are thankful for activities. We loved hearing about the scavenger hunt with hidden fairies.
And giveaways. We are thankful for great reviews (so many!). Thank you thank you!
We are thankful for supportive friends. And family. And new friends! We meet so many lovely people into the forest. We appreciate you.
We are thankful for creative children. And creative grown-ups.
We are thankful for our agent and the wonderful people at C&T Publishing who helped make our ideas into a beautiful book.
We are thankful for the bloggers who post reviews and projects. We love the photos of your crafts!
We are grateful for our community.
We are so grateful for our children. Thank you, Anika, for staging these scenes with me yesterday with the fairies!
We are thankful for dreams, because the Forest started as a dream. We are thankful for dreamers.
And we are thankful for magic. The magic of turning felt and ribbons into little treasured stories. The magic of spending time together making cute things.
The magic that makes me smile. Every time. Every time the glue dries, I hold the finished craft. And I smile. So thankful.
We are grateful for good health. Asia and I have both had challenges in our families this year (better now) that remind us how this time together is so very precious. We are grateful for good mornings. And afternoons. And evenings.
I asked my girl and her first answer was Family. Grateful for family. Love and acceptance and growing together.
And of course we are grateful for you. For your reading. And your crafting. And your support of our little journey. You make this possible. And we appreciate you each and every day.
Thank you!
Wishing you a delightful day!
A Month of Gratitude
The mind is everything. What you think, you become. ~Buddha
With this in mind, I hope to catch a month of gratitude, a little one each day.
We are trying this experiment in the Dragonfly class. I asked them what they appreciate in the world and I chose a theme to write as a sentence on a large piece of paper. I drew a border with a block crayon and a student helped me illustrate.
As with everything, sustaining the effort is the hard part. So I hope I can keep the momentum going!
Today they were grateful for birthdays!
I want to honor their childhood vision. Even though I wanted to steer them towards lovely, poetic appreciation, I also want to catch their world today. I love the beautiful, the quirky, and the silliness of the world through their eyes.
I built a foundation for this activity with our weekly Gratitude Circles. Every Friday we turn off the lights and turn on a battery-operated candle. We sit in a circle. We pass the candle around. Each student shares at least one thing in the week that she or he appreciates. At first, the circle is a stretch for some children. These days, the ideas are easier. Mom, Dad, my school, my friends. We have so much to be grateful for! I cannot wait to see what the month discovers!
I will try for a short daily post, but we may have summaries depending how the week goes :). Happy season of thanks! For me, I am thankful for my children's school (where I teach). Spending time with my boy yesterday, watching the littles with their Big Buddy Class (seventh grade) was a huge inspiration. So much sweetness!
My boy is Batman playing tag. The big kids were so fun and happy with the littles. Makes a Mama's heart happy and a teacher's heart proud :)
Also as a side note, I had to share this project from Ian's class. His teacher is amazing. She made these laterns with the students. The day before, they taped the jars with masking tape and painted them orange. On Halloween, the children drew Jack-O-Lantern faces. The teachers used an exacto knife to cut the shapes. So pretty! I am going to keep ours out for another few weeks :)
