Children love advent calendars, surprises, anticipation, and they adore Easter egg hunts, so why not take advantage of all these favorite things to encourage thankfulness in a continued activity leading up to Easter? To encourage children to develop the habit of being thankful and to express appreciation for the world around them, here is a week-long activity in which they can open their eyes to the world Nature's gifts while thinking about things they are thankful for.
Materials needed:
- Plastic hollow Easter eggs in pastel colors
- Heavy yarn, tobacco twine or thick string heavy enough to use as a "clothesline" for hanging Easter eggs
- Tape, glue or ribbon
- Strips of paper small enough to fit inside eggs
- Pencils, pens or colored markers for writing notes
Introduction to the activity: Explain that we perceive our world through the five senses:
- Sight
- Sound
- Taste
- Touch
- Smell
Discuss how Easter comes in the Spring time and take time to talk about how Nature is waking up the Earth in all its glory. Invite children to list things from each category (
sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) they are thankful for during the springtime.
Examples:
-
Sight: the many colors in Nature that appear as flowers begin to bloom
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Sound: the beating of rain on the roof and through the branches that gives birth to all the new growth
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Taste: the deliciousness of strawberries, cherries, peaches and other fruit
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Touch: the soft, gentle breezes that blow
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Smell: the fragrance of all the spring flowers that abound this time of year; salty air at the ocean in the Spring
Each day of the week leading up to Easter Sunday, select one or two things you are thankful for and write it down on one of the strips of paper. Make the sentence or two be an expression of thanks or appreciation for that item. Place the strip into a plastic egg. Find a place in your home or classroom and hang up an Easter "clothesline" from one corner to another, or along a wall, from which you can suspend plastic Easter eggs. Attach a loop of tape or glue a ribbon/piece of string to the top of the egg and hang it on the Easter "clothesline." Hang one "thankfulness egg" each day. Eggs can be decorated using markers, felt and construction paper to look like birds, bunnies and decorated eggs. As Easter approaches, begin talking about how eggs grow into larger gifts in Nature:
- Eggs grow into chicks.
- Seeds become blades of grass.
- Bulbs become tulips.
- Little things we do become their own gifts which often give back.
On Easter Sunday, take down all the plastic eggs and use them for an Easter Egg Hunt. Have children spread the word about all these things for which they have been thankful. Allow them to put treats inside or to enclose the strips in a personal note to someone they love, such as a grandparent, teacher, neighbor or friend.
AmyAdele.com has a line of
Easter thank-you notes, Easter Egg Hunt invitations, Easter Basket invitations as well as note cards and announcements with Spring themes. Check out our website or contact us for your paper needs. We love Easter here at Amy Adele because it is filled with spring flowers, warmer weather (we hope), colored eggs, new life, and we believe the best part is the celebration of Jesus's death and resurrection that brings us new life! We hope that however you celebrate Easter, that it may be a wonderful time for you and your family!
