Are you familiar with the old hymn, “Count Your Blessings?” When I was a young girl, I remember singing the well-known chorus of this classic Sunday school song. In fact, my children and I sometimes sing parts of this hymn today. Listen to the words of this old, yet relevant, song:
- “Count your blessings name them one by one,
- Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
- Count your blessings, name them one by one;
- Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.”
“Count Your Blessings,” was written in 1897 by a man named Johnson Oatman, Jr. Even though Johnson wrote this song some one hundred plus years ago, the message is still clear- be thankful.
With this hymn in mind, and as we approach the eve of Thanksgiving Day, I thought it would be fitting to incorporate some simple homeschool activities to give thanks. Won’t you please join me, and my Happy Hawks Homeschool crew, as we seek to learn about giving thanks in some simple, inexpensive ways.
~Thanksgiving Day, more than a Holiday~
In the past couple of weeks our oldest son (who is in kindergarten), has been learning about rhyming words. Therefore, using Thanksgiving as an opportunity to create rhyming words, was the perfect segway into writing a family poem about giving thanks. The children helped me come up with the rhyming words.
~”Thanksgiving” by Cotswold Kitchen Mom and her precious clan~
Thanksgiving is more than a day where people gather to eat-
A time where family and friends are scheduled to meet…
It is more than a plate full of turkey and pie,
More than a day to play football under a blue sky.
Yes, Thanksgiving Day may be all of those things-
but really, thanksgiving begins in a heart that sings.
A grateful heart that is overflowing with gratitude,
For Thanksgiving is much more than a day–it is an attitude.
Writing simple poetry is a wonderful activity to incorporate into any homeschool classroom. Initially, poetry can be read aloud to the child. Once the child is a bit older, the child can then learn to memorize the poetry of others. This skill can then lead to the child writing their own poetry.
Learning to appreciate poetry at a young age is a valuable skill and can be used to cover any topic.
~A Recipe for Giving Thanks~
By simple definition, a recipe involves combining ingredients to produce a new outcome. Normally, a recipe refers to something you can eat… but this week the children and I created a different type of recipe. A recipe that requires the mind and the heart- as opposed to the mouth and the belly.
After breakfast yesterday morning, the children and I had a discussion about why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Naturally, the historical account of the first Thanksgiving is a wonderful homeschool topic. We touched on this account but also discussed thanksgiving as an attitude… and not just a special holiday.
As a homeschool mom, I always enjoy talking with my children as it allows me to hear their sweet little thoughts and ideas. Just because they are young, does not mean their minds are not able.
For older children, you could give each child a recipe card and allow them to come up with their own formula for practicing a thankful heart. This type of activity combines, writing skills, reading skills, creative thinking, and character development. While a fun activity, it also has great value. Some lessons are not learned from a textbook.
~Joyful Journals of Gratitude~
Earlier this month, our three oldest children received gratitude journals from a dear homeschool co-op friend. Each co-op student was encouraged to write down things they were thankful for during the month of November. I thought this was a wonderful idea! Being a seasoned homeschool mom, my friend is full of beautiful, creative ideas. With her permission, I thought I would pass her idea on to you all.
A gratitude journal can be created with any paper you wish. Ideally, the outer piece of paper should be made of a thicker material (like card stock). Basically, you place a piece of cardstock down on a flat surface, add several pages of plain white paper on top of the cardstock, and then fold all the pages together (in half width wise). Staple the pages in the middle and decorate the front and back covers.
This journal is petite, and therefore, can easily be brought along with a child as they go about their daily lives. A thoughtful companion… which can serve as a reminder to be thankful.
~Thanksgiving "Tags" to Share~
Most of us are familiar with the idea of paying it forward. Paying it forward with thankfulness tags is another inexpensive activity to encourage a thankful heart in children.
Simple tags like these can be purchased from the Dollar Tree. Moreover, they are handy for a variety of uses. The idea here is to give the “tags” to a neighbor, stranger, family member, or friend. One tag is for the person you are thankful for, and the other tags are for that person to pass along to someone else that they are thankful for… and so forth. The tags that say “thank you” can be personalized before giving to your special person.
Perhaps, my favorite thing about a simple idea like this is seeing who my children will choose to give these tags to, sometimes it is an obvious person, and other times it is a surprise to me.
~A Photograph, to Capture Gratitude, Through the Eyes of a Child~
(Sidenote: these pictures are personal to my own children, but I am sharing the idea with you all as you may want to let your own children stage and share some of their own “thankful photos.”)
My oldest two children are quite interested in photography. My husband and I bought them each a very simple camera last year for Christmas. These cameras have been wonderful gifts, and it has been fun to see their photography skills grow. Taking pictures is often a part of our school lessons. The children take their cameras out on our nature walks or on field trips. Our oldest daughter even stages food in her photos (which, of course, makes me smile as she is simply mimicking what she sees me do for this blog.) Children are like sponges.
Recently, in our homeschool co-op, one of the moms kindly taught the elementary aged students how to create an area for taking photographs. The children were instructed to bring in items from home that they liked (and were of a particular color scheme). They were then able to use lighting, and other tools, to create a staged photograph.
Borrowing this idea, I thought it would be fun to let my children choose- and stage- some of the lovely, ordinary things they were thankful for. The following photographs were captured under the instruction of my pupils.
I am convinced- you can learn much through the eyes of a child.
~The Considered "Thankful" Photographs~
After discussing with the children, “everyday things”, they we were thankful for, I instructed them to have a look around the house (or in the yard) for items they were grateful for. They were to gather the items and stage them artistically on a little wooden stool. These are the images they captured:
~Our Oldest Daughter's Item~
~Our Oldest Son's Items~
~Our Youngest Son's Items~
~Our Youngest Daughter's Item~
~"My Baby's Chair"~
You know I have to add a thrift store plug somewhere …so why not here? This sweet little chair was a thrift store find, that I then revamped, to be a perfect addition for our girl’s bedroom. If you would like to see what the chair looked like before its mini transformation, then click here to see that… and other vintage bedroom treasures.
~Lastly, Mom's Photograph of Her "Thankful-For Item"~
~Until Next Time~
Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. To those of you reading in other countries, I hope this post has inspired you all to thankful thinking (myself included in that). Sometimes thanksgiving takes some training for our hearts and minds, but if we are grateful, a new perspective trickles over into our lives…. and then…into the lives of others.
Again, I write this post knowing that not everyone has a place to gather for a Thanksgiving meal… and everyone’s situations are not the same. Life is not always easy. I do not want this post to sound naive or unthoughtful, but I do want to strive to be thankful and compassionate during this season.
Tune in soon to see a recipe I shared with my family at our Thanksgiving celebration. And don’t forget to check out my last Friday’s post on English Cauliflower cheese, if you are still in need of a last-minute Thanksgiving dish. Or check out my fun thanksgiving post for more ideas and opportunities to be thankful.
See you all soon!
~Elizabeth~
Check out this blog post to see how to make some simple handmade thank you cards with children (which is what the above photograph is from).