Fall Family Activities for Little Hands

My friend Keri (who shares lots of tips and encouragement for busy moms over at kerilynnsnyder.com) asked me the other day if I wanted to partner up with her and do a Fall kids’ activity and an easy-to-make & kid-friendly snack to share on our blogs. Of course I said yes!

She came up with the “Thankful Tree” idea, and I shared my really, really simple pumpkin spice popcorn recipe with her. Paired together, our two ideas make for a fun Fall activity for little hands, so if you’re looking for something really simple to do with your kids to help commemorate this season of thanks, and if you’re looking for a really simple snack to make with your kids and munch on while you talk about how thankful you are :), you’re in for a real treat.

Literally.

Keri’s Thankful Tree is even simpler to make than mine, but her Thankful Tree is posted on a wall with construction paper, and if I post anything on my wall with construction paper that my 3-year-old can reach, my crawling/cruising/might-as-well-be-Christopher-Columbus-Jr.-because-she-explores-so-much baby will tear that thing down in a heartbeat.

And, well, tearing down a “Thankful Tree” doesn’t really seem to express gratitude too well, so I adapted Keri’s super sweet idea for the Thankful Tree to our household (and you could do the same for yours!).

I made our “Thankful Tree” out of twigs from our backyard (the price was right, y’all!), put them in a glass vase with some pine cones I already had, made some paper leaves out of cardstock and added some string to them, and then hung them from the twigs.

And, it’s strategically placed in the Fall centerpiece I already had on our kitchen table (it’s pretty cute, if I must say so myself, especially for being a FREE project since I just made it from materials I already had!), so that way I’ll actually remember to fill a leaf out every day since I’ll see our little tree each time we sit down for supper during the month of November. (Plus, this centerpiece just tugs at my heartstrings a bit since I am such a sucker for family dinners!)

I tucked a bunch of blank paper leaves into the centerpiece with a pen. Then, each evening I can pull a leaf out with the pen, Aaron and I can chat with our daughters about what they’re thankful for (but really, the 3-year-old is going to have a little more to say than the 9-month-old, but we’ll still chat with both :)) and we can write something down and hang up the leaf.

Look how sweet this is!

And speaking of what we’re thankful for, check out my super sleepy dog in the background as I was taking photos of this centerpiece. We’re really thankful for Gip.

I could do without the shedding, but, it is what it is.

Go check out Keri’s so-very-simple-and-doable-and-kid-friendly version of the Thankful Tree on her blog! (And the other fun resources she has on there, too!)

And if you’re looking for a little sweet treat that little hands can easily make, check out my Three-Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Popcorn recipe. It’s very easy for kids to make, and it’s also very easy for adults to eat. 🙂

It was very easy to let my almost-3-year-old help me make this fun treat. She could stir and sprinkle on the pumpkin spice.

She also found it very easy to help lick the spatula.

Elizabeth can also confirm that this stuff smells REALLY good.

Go have fun being thankful with your family! 🙂