In Wednesday’s blog post, I introduced you to the book Let’s Be Thankful. I explained how we used this precious book to begin our Thanksgiving holiday season.
To begin, I asked our kiddos to recall examples of thanks that the author shared in his book. The kids pulled out classic and some of the unique answers. “Family…teachers…lemonade.” Then I explained that for the next few weeks we were going to be focusing on blessings that God has given our family.
I pulled out several 3/4″ x 8.5″ strips of paper that Sweet Pea and I had cut from construction paper prior to our Family Meeting explaining that every night each of us would write one blessing on a strip of paper. The strips would be joined to form a chain.
The kiddos immediately started sharing what they wanted to write on the strips. Each of the older three kids wrote one idea on a strip. I encouraged them to remember their extra ideas for the next few nights as they would have many opportunities to add other blessings. Then we stapled the strips together to begin our Chain of Praise.
To add to the excitement, we challenged the family to see how long of chain we could create before Thanksgiving. The chain was placed on the mantel for the next evening. The kids enjoy checking the chain’s length to their height.
To my amazement, the kids have taken on the assignment with much enthusiasm. Often times they are the ones to remind me.
To end our time of praise, we will read each of the links on Thanksgiving Day. Anna suggested on the ABC Jesus Loves Me Facebook Group to use Christmas colored paper and then use the chain to decorate the Christmas tree. Love this idea to help mesh the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
On the ABC Jesus Loves Me Facebook Group, Lori shared how she tailors this activity with younger children.
Before November 1st, Lori made and connected the chain. Each of the links contained pre-written blessings. Everyday her son tore one link off and then they prayed and said how they were thankful for that person or item.
Another idea is to make individual chains for each person. If competition is a driving force in your home, see who can create the longest chain.
Glean more Thanksgiving ideas in our blog series – Thanksgiving Traditions throughout this month – and on the ABCJesusLovesMe website page – Thanksgiving Ideas. Be sure to “Follow” our blog (in the right-hand column) so you don’t miss any great ideas!
How does praise affect your attitude?
