During this season of thanks, we are encouraged to reflect on all that we are grateful for and impart this feeling to our littles, too! While these next few weeks will be filled with school activities and parties, holiday shopping, and travel, this craft can provide the perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect with our little ones. This craft targets speech, language, reading, writing, attention, and fine motor skills… all while encouraging creativity and gratitude.
Items Needed
- Paper Plates (2 per craft)
- Orange construction paper OR orange markers
- Tan or brown markers
- Mini Brad
- Scissors
- Pencil/marker
- Glue (if using construction paper)
- Optional toppings: cotton balls for “whipped cream”/pom poms for “berries”
Instructions
- Decorate one of the paper plates. First, color the “crust” to the color of your liking. Then, decorate the inside of the plate as the pie filing. Get creative and make different types of pie- apple, pumpkin, blueberry, the choices are endless!
- Option: Add “toppings”. You can use cotton balls for whipped cream or pom poms for blueberries.
- Cut out a “slice’ of pie. This triangle will reveal the words of gratitude.
- Take the other paper plate and write (or have your child write to practice writing skills!) items they’re thankful for.
- Tip: If your child has difficulty generating items, consider using family pictures or photo books or looking around the room (pets, favorite toys, etc)! This can provide your child with visual supports to help answer this prompt.
- Adhere the plates together with the mini Brad pin. This helps the plate remain in place as you spin the pie to reveal different items they’re grateful for.
3 Speech and Language Ideas:
- Get Cooking!
- Make a craft “pie”…and then make a real one! Getting children in the kitchen is incredibly beneficial, as it supports vocabulary development, cognitive skills like math and problem solving, and so much more. Read more about the benefits of including your child in the kitchen here. Plus, if you’re headed to any holiday parties this season, you now have dessert to bring (or not!).
- Recall and Memory
- Does your child have a difficult time remembering details or telling you about their day? Try supporting their cognitive skills with this craft. After you complete a step of the craft, ask them what you just did. Then, once the craft is completed, ask them to retell you how they made it. Looking to make it more challenging? Wait a few days to ask them these questions. You can ask them what items you needed to make the craft or specifics on the instructions. If they need help, bring out the pie craft to serve as a visual support to answer these tough questions!
- Answering Questions
- Engage in conversation with your little one. By doing so, they can work on social-pragmatic and self-expression skills. One way to do this is to ask follow up wh-questions when discussing items they’re grateful for. For example, your child may say they’re grateful for their sibling. You can follow up with a prompt such as “what is your favorite thing about him/her?”, “Tell me more about why you’re grateful for him/her”, or “I wonder what your favorite thing to do with him/her is!”. These prompts open up the conversation, plus it is so fun to hear what children have to say!
Looking for some gratitude themed books to go along with this craft? Check out our blog post here!
We hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday. We’re grateful for you!
- The OWLS Therapy team