Thanksgiving Camping Craft- Thankful Tree

November is a great time to work on practicing thankfulness with our children. It's something that we often forget to practice. But, no more! Take that, ungratefulness! We have found several ways to keep our happy little camper-hold focused on what blessings we have been given.

The Thankful Tree is probably my favorite. It involves nature, so I automatically love it! Plus, it's free, family -oriented, and fun! What more could you ask for in a craft?

You will need a fairly large tree branch- mine is probably 2-3 feet high and about 18 inches wide. There's a family activity in itself... Go on a walk in the woods and find the perfect branch.

You'll also need a vase, construction paper, and some beads or decorative stones to put in the vase.
Cut out some leaf shapes in fall colors. You can find templates here, here, or here.  Or you can just cut them out by hand.
Place your branch into your vase. Fill the vase up with beads or stones to hold it in place. I just used a bag of  random mixed beads in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. I think it turned out really pretty.

Distribute leaves to everyone in your family and have them write or draw things they are thankful for. I cut out about 20 leaves per person. We did 4-5 the first night, then I left the leaves in a bowl for anyone to grab whenever they feel the urge to be thankful. They've added on quite a few leaves every day. Some of the things they are thankful for have really surprised me!

Along with our thankful tree, we have a charming Thanksgiving Countdown printable from Tip Junkie and The Letter 4. I think it was intended for use a few years ago, when Thanksgiving was on the 24th (there are 24 circles to cross off), but I just whited out the 23rd and 24th circles. Stick it in a cheap dollar store frame, and Presto! Thanksgiving countdown. We use a dry erase marker to cross off every day, and we take turns writing what we are thankful for each day. Well, really, it's more of a race to be the first one to get to write on it each day! But we are sharing our gratitude, and that's A-OK with me!

I love both of these options because they're easy, frugal, and don't take up a lot of space. Oh, and they help us intentionally place our thoughts on what we DO have, rather than what we don't have.
What does your family do to maintain the spirit of Thanksgiving? We'd love for you to share!