Thanksgiving Wreath

Materials

• Leaf cutouts (download below) printed on fall-colored card stock (one set for each student or mix both sets)
• 9-inch orange paper plates
• CDs or other round objects (about 5 inches across) for tracing
• Fall-colored ribbon in 31/2-foot strands and extra for bows in 18- inch strands
• Raffia in 12-inch pieces
• Fall decorations: mini leaves, acorns, pumpkins, berries, dry pasta, beans, or corn, etc.
• Glue (in bowls for students to share)
• Cotton swabs for glue
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Hole punch
• Optional: gold glitter

Instructions

Option 1

Prepare each plate before class. Lay a CD in the center of the plate, trace a circle around it, and cut out a hole. Staple the longer length of ribbon on the backside of the plate, matching one end to the cut edge of the center hole to be wound around the wreath after the raffia is added. (See below.)

Option 2

Have students prepare plates. Pass out one paper plate to each student. Have students lay a CD in the center of their plate and trace a circle around it then cut out the circle. Staple the longer length of ribbon on the backside of the plate, matching one end of the ribbon to the cut edge of the center.

Both Options

Set out bowls of glue and cotton swabs for students to share. Have students glue strands of raffia around the plate leaving the center hole open. Raffia is easier to work with if you smooth out a bunch and lay it down all together on the glue. Allow glue to dry while cutting out the leaves.

Give one set of leaf cutouts to each student. You may want to mix both types of leaves or use just one type. Each student should have six leaves with one of each word. For cutting maple leaves, instruct students to cut a circle around each leaf to separate them first, then make small snips inside the angles of the leaves. Lay cut leaves aside. Optional: add gold glitter around the edges.

On the paper plate, bring the attached ribbon up and over the outer edge (over the raffia) and down through the center. Pull at an angle, then bring it around the edge and through the center again. Continue moving up and over around the whole plate. When you get back to where you started, staple the end of the ribbon to the plate and trim any extra.

Glue the leaf cutouts around the edges of the plate on top of the raffia. Add extra fall decorations to fill in the spaces around the edges. Tie a bow with the 18-inch ribbon and staple or glue it to the top or bottom of the wreath. Punch a hole at the middle of the top edge of the plate. Use ribbon to make a loop for hanging.

Suggested Discussion

We talked about each of the words on our wreaths in our lesson today. They are the keys to gratefulness. We can be grateful and give thanks in good times and bad times. We can pray for God to help us when bad things happen. God will give us joy and hope even when things don’t go right because he loves us and will take care of us. And because Jesus died and rose again, he shares the victory with those who trust in him. They can look forward to living with him in heaven where there are no more bad things—that’s something to truly be thankful for!