Angel from Baby Toting Mama is really good about putting together kids DIY projects that help kids with their fine motor skills and creative thinking. Today she is going to show us a wonderful spin on the Christmas Advent Calendar. This is a project that Angel shared with a few of us last year, so now it’s on paper and we are sharing it with you!
Who says an advent calendar is only for Christmas? This week the family and I made a Thanksgiving advent wreath. We used only the supplies in our home since this month has been a tough one with unexpected surgeries, trips to my hometown and the like. It felt good doing a project with my whole family with JUST what we had in our home.
First we had the kids color the clothes pins with marker. My 4 year old son did this reasonably well but his two year old sister decided she had other ideas! We ended up redirecting her to a coloring page and helped my son finish coloring the clothes pins. Another option would be to use paint instead of markers. While the kids colored the pins I cut a plastic wreath form out of plastic lid. I then colored it with a red marker so it would look a little more fall like when we took the pins off. I also added some ribbon to use as a hanger.
After all the pins were colored the whole family sat around the table and put what we were thankful for on the clothes pins. My two year old daughter put things like time (pointed at the clock) and napkins. Although humorous these pretty much sum up her day! She loves her schedule and needs a napkin at every meal! My son listed things like his home, family and teachers and of course my husband and I are thankful for our children and relatives. It was nice sitting down and doing this together.
Once our thoughts were added it was time to put the pins on the plastic ring and hang it! The original plan was to remove a pin every day and use it to remind us of what we are thankful for with the last pin wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving on Nov 28th. However due to my daughters destruction we will have to begin the count down a little later. I hope our little project inspires your family to remember what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving!
The following is a list of things you will need for this project:
Markers
Clothes pins (28 if you want a pin a day)
Ribbon
Something to use as a wreath base
I hope you enjoy this project!
