Be Grateful

What You Need:

• White paper
• Pen
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Glass jar, clean and dry
• Large red pom
• 2 large googly eyes
• Brown foam
• Ribbon, 6 inches long
• Low-temp glue gun

What You Do:

1. Have your child fold a sheet of brown foam in half (or stack two sheets if they're small), and draw one antler on the top of the folded foam. Cut out the antlers along the drawing lines and set them aside.
2. Wrap the ribbon at the base of the jar and use the glue gun (with parental supervision) to glue the ribbon in place.
3. Glue the red pom in the center of the jar to create Rudolph's nose.
4. Have him glue on both googly eyes. Then, glue one antler on each side of the inner threading at the top of the jar. The Rudolph jar is now ready for collecting writing!
5. Ask him to measure and cut out small strips from the white paper that are 5" x 2". He should end up with at least 25 pieces.
6. Encourage him to write on one strip of paper a day. Have him write about anything he's thankful for, from family and friends, to good books and meals. Each "thankful" entry should read as: "I am thankful for...because..."
7. Collect "thankful" notes for 25 days leading up to Christmas and either read them aloud to family and friends, or offer the entire collection to a loved one for a cherished holiday gift.