Winter Gratitude Wreath
We will be making a winter gratitude wreath by using items you most likely have around your house! This winter gratitude wreath will be fun to create with your own homemade snowflakes. This activity teaches us what the word “gratitude” means and what we can be grateful for!
Supplies:
Paper plate
1 pair of Scissors
3 writing tools (marker, pencil and pen)
1 Glue stick
White or blue construction paper
Glitter or colored pencils/crayons (optional)
Activity Steps:
Step 1 : Prepare your space of where you’ll be completing your craft by making sure you have space and the items needed before you begin. Since we are using scissors in this activity do not forget to ask for parent’s permission or have an adult help you with using scissors.
Step 2 : Have you heard of the word “Gratitude”? It can be a big word and you may have learned of it’s meaning already. In this season, gratitude is a topic often talked about. Gratitude is the feeling of being thankful and appreciative for what you already have. So let’s begin with opening our mind and heart to gratitude with a little finger tracing meditation.
I want you to find a comfortable position wherever you are. You can sit down with your legs crossed or laying down on your back. Once you find your comfortable position, place your hands on your knees and turn your palms so they are facing up towards the ceiling or sky.
You can choose to have your palms face down as well. Now, we are going to think of one thing you're thankful for as you take your index finger(the finger next to your thumb) and trace your thumb on the opposite hand. (Step2c)
Step 3: As you take a big deep breath, you will think of one thing you are grateful for. As you take that deep breath, focus on feeling the gratitude fill up your heart/mind, and exhale letting it bring a smile to your face. Now, take your index finger and continue to trace the rest of your fingers on the opposite hand. Think of four more things you can be grateful for today, let the gratitude fill you up and smile as you exhale it out. Continue the same pattern, breathing in, thinking of something you can be grateful for and letting it out.
Tip:You can be grateful for anything, it doesn’t have to be an object. It can be a person or place, small things or big things. There is no wrong answer to be grateful for.
As you opened your hearts and minds to gratitude with that breathing exercise, it will now help you in creating our winter gratitude wreath. Grab your paper plate, scissors, and a pen. If you haven’t done so already, we are going to cut the inside of the paper plate. Don’t forget that if you need help in using scissors to go ask an adult to help you.
Step 4 : You’re going to take your pen and use it to make a hole in the center of your paper plate by puncturing the center of your plate.
Next, you're going to start cutting using the hole you made as a starter point .
You just want to cut the center of the plate out, not the rim of the plate. The rim (outside) is our wreath part.
Tip: You want to make the hole not too small, you want it big enough to fit your scissors through. If you need help and don’t have an adult nearby, you can simply skip this step and go back to it later when an adult is there to help you and continue on to the next steps.
Step 5: Then, you are going to place our wreath (paper plate rim) to the side and grab our pen/marker and white/blue construction paper. Since we are in the season of winter, I chose colors that remind me of winter during this time. You can choose whichever colors you like, now we are going to make our last part of the wreath which is our snowflakes!
Tip: If you don’t have construction paper , you can use regular printing paper to make snowflakes and color them your desired color after you cut them out.
Step 6: You are now going to make our snowflakes. Grab your paper (any color) and place it vertically in front of you.
Now, grab your top half and fold it, making the ends of the paper touching.
It is okay if the ends on both sides are not exactly touching but try your best. Once your paper is folded in half, you are going to fold it in half again, trying your best to match the corners. It’s going to look like you are making a book.
Step 7: Now that you have a book , you will see two sides that are folded and two sides that you can see the edges of the paper. You are going to rotate your paper to the folded side.
Your paper should be faced with the long sides of the paper to the right and left, with the short side of the paper closest to your body. You will grab the outer corner and fold it halfway, making a triangle.
Again, try your best to have the lines of your triangle meet together as best you can. Once that is folded, you will take your scissors to cut off the rectangle shape, that is extra paper that you won’t need. As we are folding and cutting, let’s continue to think of things we are grateful for.
Step 8: Then, we are going to cut our far folded corner that is off to the side. We do not cut the open corner or the top corner. This corner we cut can be cut in angle or anyway, this will be our snowflake center.
After that, we will take our scissors and start to design our snowflakes. You can now cut different shapes along the edges of your triangle, now the only rule is to make your shapes not so close together. Keep about inch to 2 inches apart from your shapes.
Step 9: Once you cut all the desired shapes along your triangle, you can fully open your snowflakes. (Step9a)
You will see you have four snowflakes. We now cut them apart to write down something you are grateful for and to glue them on your wreath. Remember, we can think of big or small things to be grateful for.
Tip : As you continue to write things down on your snowflakes, it’s okay if you can’t think of something to write down on every snowflake. You can always go back to write on a snowflake and then glue it on to your wreath later.
Step 10: Lastly, you continue that process to your paper to make as many snowflakes you would like on your winter wreath. Once you create them don’t forget to add what you are grateful for! Then it’s time to glue on your wreath. As you glue them down, you can take a deep breath and smile as you exhale out. Take your time on this part, you are practicing being mindful of what you are grateful for. All of what you're grateful for is important and meaningful! Now, you have a winter wreath that you can pin or tape on your wall. You also can put it in the refrigerator if you have a magnet, always feel free to add more snowflakes to it if you think of something else you're grateful for!
~Made by Sarah R.