Lambies Show Their Thanks with Gratitude Boxes

I wanted to do a project for Thanksgiving but wasn't up for incorporating the traditional food approach this year. There's just something morbid about making turkeys that are eventually oven-bound as a way of celebrating in art class. So after doing a little research and looking in my stash of supplies I decided to have the lambies create "gratitude boxes".

For this lesson, we started out by sitting together in a circle and taking turns saying what we are thankful for. The lambies had so much to say that we went around the circle twice - I love them so much!

Next they sat at the table to paint three papers each and told the teachers what to write on each one - for example: "my mom" or "my puppy". Then they had crayons and paint to decorate each paper. For this I used really nice watercolor paper because I wanted them to feel high quality.

Once they were finished I gave them small white cardboard boxes that I had scavenged from a previous teaching job. They were originally packaging for hard drive locks for a classroom. They used paint or sharpies to decorate that were set out on the ground in another area of the yard.

Finally, the artwork was placed in the boxes and tags and ribbon were added for the final touch!

This is Katelyn's box with the three paintings that will live inside.

Here are a few of the boxes all wrapped up and ready to go home!

I love these!