Giving Thanks
We all know the story of the Pilgrims and Native Americans joining together to share in a Harvest feast.
We also know Thanksgiving to be a time of gathering family together and a well cooked and adored meal.
However over the years I have noticed that the "Thanks" of Thanksgiving has been a rather small part of the holiday, perhaps some never even pause to offer up thanks.
When I was thinking about what I would like my daughter to get from the holiday it wasn't a traced hand of a turkey. I wanted her to develop a genuine appreciation for what she has and to give thanks.
I wanted this to be a part of the craft that the children would be doing at school as well.
So instead of the traditional turkey hand, which is very cute, but alas not what I wanted to offer, instead we actually took time to look at real Turkey feathers.
The children were then given a feather of their own to be painted, but before the painting began
they were given white crayons to color on the feather form, and then used water colors to create
a wax resist effect on the feathers.
They then added a piece of leather and beaded the feather, a conceptual design similar to the feathers Natives wear.
On the back of these feathers, the children offered up what they were thankful for.
The feathers were wonderful, and I felt they honored the holiday and bird they would be eating, as we also talked about thanking turkeys for their lives on this day.
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