In our home “Thank You” cards are part of life. Whenever one of us is given something – whether tangible or not – a “Thank You” card is given in return.
By creating these cards we are establishing a thankful and grateful heart in our children. Character traits that we want all of our children to have.
Our kiddos do really well making one or two cards but when ten or so are required, the process becomes daunting. Add in Bubs struggles with writing and it is February before we get all of them finished. Over the years, I have come up with some ideas that accomplished the task while speeding up the process to match their attention spans.
Hidden Message Thanks
The “Thank You” card pictured above is one that I came up with when our children weren’t feeling very crafty! The surprise of a white crayon added a new aspect!
With a white crayon, write firmly and thickly on a piece of paper. I mean firmly. Thickly. Paint over to discover the hidden message. We used water colors but other paints may be used.
One thing that I have found helpful is to prepare and block several sheets together so that the child paints “one” large piece of paper instead of many individual sheets. Do four at a time and it will seem less for the child.
Video of Thanks
One year, I created a video of each child saying “thank you” or attempting to. I spliced the clips together and email the video to our gift givers.
Handprint Thanks
The handprint card is another “Thank You” Card idea that we did for Christmas a few years ago. (Click to view directions) Lining up several pieces of paper made the process go very quick while still allowing each kid a “hand” in the activity. Sorry for the sad pun! LOL!
Picture Thanks
This year, I gave each child a piece of paper. The older three wrote “thank,” “you,” and “us” while I wrote “from” for Peanut – Thank you from us! Then I asked them to decorate each sheet. I love how each personality came out on their sheets. {Little Man drew Jesus’ hands (black) surrounding the earth (green) and a black present.} I emailed or printed this picture (with their heads, of course) to give to each person who gave us a gift.
Some great ideas, thanks for posting.