I am trying to teach my children that we should not just talk about being thankful during November! We should show gratitude in all seasons! Help teach your little ones to show appreciation by growing a Garden of Gratitude in your classroom this spring. Bright, colorful foam flowers in little pots are perfect for holding special "I am grateful" notes. Put them together to make a beautiful classroom display and then send them home for spring gifts! Be sure to download the Free "I am grateful" Tag Printables here!
Spring is the perfect time to plant new seeds and wait for something wonderful to grow! If you took a peek inside our classroom, you would see that we are growing a Garden of Gratitude! A Garden of Gratitude is a beautiful way to showcase all of things we appreciate!
To get started, I made little cards that say "I am very grateful." Download the Free "I am grateful" Tag Printables here! I printed my cards on Pastel Paper scrapbook paper so they would be bright and colorful! Most scrapbook paper is 12x12 inches, which doesn't fit into a standard printer. I just cut the paper down to 8.5x11 inches and then put it in the paper tray of my printer. I liked having different choices of colors and patterns for our garden. I also set out lots of brightly colored markers that would stand out on the cards.
Each kiddo got a card. They wrote about something they are grateful to have. If you teach little ones, you may want to brainstorm a list together and make a chart of ideas. Younger children could draw pictures if they aren't ready for writing words. Older students could write a sentence about something they are grateful to have. Once all of the cards are created, it's time for flowers!
The Flower Recipe Holder Craft Kits were so simple to put together! Everything already had adhesive on the back so we just had to peel and stick the pieces together! (I love projects that don't make a big mess!) The clip on the back of the flower is perfect for holding recipes or our grateful cards! They look so cute when everything is put together!
After all of the flowers were finished, we assembled our Garden of Gratitude. I used more colorful Pastel Paper Pack scrapbook paper to line a couple wood trays for our garden. Some Bold Brights Designer Letters really made the display pop in our classroom! We "planted" our flowers in the garden, and they could not look better! It's such a great reminder of how may things we are grateful to have.
I am planning on keeping our Garden of Gratitude on display for a while and then sending the flowers home. They will make the perfect spring gift for moms or other important family members! The cards are not permanently attached so we can just open the clip and add something new if needed.
Growing a Garden of Gratitude is a special springtime project, but it helps little ones learn to be thankful all year round!
