Monday, November 15, 2010

Our "Giving Tree".

We have already gotten into the holiday spirit in our family! We are planning a really nice Thanksgiving and we always focus on a less-commercially focused Christ-mas in our family.

We have been reading the wonderful, classic book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein and we decided to make our own giving tree. 

Now, our concept is a bit different. We have chosen to "shop" for various items in our home and at stores that we would like to give or donate to others. The girls are having a lot of fun looking around our house for items to donate. Elle is going to write down each item on a leaf and when we give it away, we will remove the leaf from our tree. We are hoping our tree branches will be bare before Christmas and we will have a lot of opportunities for sharing the love of God with others. 
We plan to donate baked goods, canned goods, clothes, toys and more!



 Here we are making our tree from branches we got from our yard. We used an empty plant pot and poured some rocks and glass shapes in the bottom around the branches. Then, we simply cut some leaf shapes from construction paper, hole punched them and hung the leaves on the branches--pretty easy!!

 Elle is spelling out FROG and writing it on a leaf.


So, here is our "Giving Tree." We are proud of our girls for picking some really nice things to give away, too;-)  We are really trying to instill a giving spirit in our children and teach them that it truly is "better to give than receive."

What is your family tradition for the holidays?
Blessings,
Aria;)


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9 comments:

Rachael said...

what a great idea, I would love to use this idea if you do not mind. I dont have a pot for a tree but I think we can figure something out. Our kids get very little for Christmas and not just cause we cant afford too. We always buy a gift or 2 for the toys for tots charity and this year we are going to make christmas cookies for the elderly folks in a nursing home near by.

3G=Growing Godly Girlz said...

Rach-that would be awesome for you to make a giving tree for your family!

Anonymous said...

First of all, The Giving Tree is my all time favorite children's book. I had 3 copies of it myself before my daughter was even born.

I love the idea of a Giving Tree and it's something that we plan to implement as our daughter gets older. I plan to set up a small Christmas tree at her birthday party for people to clip donations onto instead of a bunch of presents. Or ask them to bring a toy to donate. I don't have the details worked out yet, but something like that.

For Christmas we give shoeboxes to Operation Christmas child. This year for the first time we donated three Thanksgiving meals to the church for needy families. I can't wait until Adaline is old enough to participate in the giving!

Jenn

Anonymous said...

First of all, The Giving Tree is my all time favorite children's book. I had 3 copies of it myself before my daughter was even born.

I love the idea of a Giving Tree and it's something that we plan to implement as our daughter gets older. I plan to set up a small Christmas tree at her birthday party for people to clip donations onto instead of a bunch of presents. Or ask them to bring a toy to donate. I don't have the details worked out yet, but something like that.

For Christmas we give shoeboxes to Operation Christmas child. This year for the first time we donated three Thanksgiving meals to the church for needy families. I can't wait until Adaline is old enough to participate in the giving!

Jenn

Unknown said...

What a great, fun idea, and easy for little ones too!

I'm following from Hip Homeschool Hop. I think you'd have fun at www.magicalmouseschoolhouse.com, where Disney IS school. Hope you can stop by!

Penny Layne said...

That looks like a very fun project. I am looking forward to doing more projects with my daughter as we progress. It is always great to see what others are doing as well.

Carrie Thompson said...

LOVE the Giving Tree... one of my favorite books!

Looks like a wonderful tradition!

Anonymous said...

I love your version of the giving tree. This is something I may just try in my family too. Great idea!

Found you from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and I'm following your blog on GFC now.

3G=Growing Godly Girlz said...

Thank you ALL for your very nice comments-I greatly appreciate you!

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