Giveaway ~ Everyday Celebrations Thanksgiving Cards

Thankfulness ~ Gratitude

Gratitude, thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive emotion or attitude in 

acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. 

I was on a blog hop the other day and came across a wonderful blog & etsy shop called Everyday Celebrations which encourages families to celebrate the holidays and everyday life together. LeAnne has a couple of wonderful items in her store that I wish I had had when I was teaching and/or a nanny. The Thanksgiving Cards are designed to use together and a great way to teach your children about thankfulness.

With the holidays (and birthdays) come an abundance of presents, treats, activities and more.  We, not just our kids, get so involved in the activity and "stuff" that comes with the holidays that it's easy to forget that someone has worked hard to find just the right thing or has spent the time to make it "perfect" for family and friends.  So, how do we teach gratitude and thankfulness to our kids?

LeAnne has created the 'Give Thanks' Countdown Cards to give families and teachers a tool to teach thankfulness.  The instructions are very well written and thought out and the activities included can be used with all ages from kids 2 and up.  (You may need to “tweak” them to fit different age ranges).  Your children will not only learn what gratitude or thankfulness is, but also how to show it to others.

When you purchase the Countdown Cards you receive two files.  The first file includes over 30 family-friendly activities that focus on gratitude. Templates and printables are included to complete all the activities.  There are patterns and suggestions on things you can do as a family that are hands on.  Some you can discuss in the car or at the dinner table.  They are designed to get your family thinking.  Others you actually "do".  These activities take a little longer to do - you may want to spread the activity over 24 hours.  For example, you might explain the activity at dinner one night and then during the next 24 hours (or until tomorrow's dinner time) let everyone mull over or find props that give meaning to the task your family is working on.

The 2^nd file you receive is the actual cards that you will print out to create your countdown cards. 

This set of cards would make a great gift to newlyweds, new parents, church groups, kids clubs, teachers – anyone of all ages would benefit from this set.  It would also be very beneficial for youth groups and homeschooling families.


SAMPLE OF INCLUDED ACTIVITIES:

1. Print off the sign that reads, “We just had to “pop” over and say we‘re thankful for you!” Attach the sign to a neighbors’ door with a bag of microwave popcorn or 2 liters of soda. Make it anonymous by ding-dong-ditching!
2. For your evening or dinner prayer, only offer a prayer of thanks.
3. Have everyone name three things they are thankful for.
4. Put everyone’s name in a hat and have everyone draw one. By tomorrow night, everyone has to find a way to secretly serve that person.

There are a couple of ways you can get your own set of 'Give Thanks' Countdown Cards.

1. You can purchase the downloadable set of cards at her etsy shop “Everyday Celebrations”.  There is also a neat calendar that you can make up.  It would make a neat decoration in your home – just be sure to put it in a prominent spot where it can be seen.  While you’re at it, why don’t you have a family verse such as:

'Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is so good...' Psalm 118:29 TLB

2.  LeAnne has graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway (of the 'Give Thanks' Countdown Cards) to my Holiday Traditions & GivingNSharing readers and suggested we try to have the giveaway end early enough that the winner will have time to make up their own set of cards in time for November 1^st.

Mandatory Entry:

Be sure you are following Holiday Traditions on GFC (left column) before you do any of the entries. You must follow my blog and LeAnne's before you do any of the others.  I would hate to delete your entries after all of your hard work!   

1. Follow LeAnne on her blog: Everyday Celebrations on GFC and leave her a comment that I sent you.  You can put something like: "Hi, I entered the Everyday Celebrations giveaway on Holiday Traditions, Gifts and Recipes today at: http://ning.it/aZsTA6."

Optional Entries: 
Leave a separate comment for each. All entries are worth the number of times noted next to it, if it says (2) please post two comments.  (Note: you can do all or none of these)

• Favorite Everyday Celebrations on Etsy and Tell me 1-2 things that you would love to have in the Everyday Celebrations Etsy shop. (2)
• Follow me on Twitter (1)
• Follow me on Facebook (1)
• Follow Holiday Traditions on Networked Blogs (left column, scroll down) (1)
• Tweet/post on Facebook: "Great Family Activity! WIN a PDF of the 'Give Thanks' Countdown Cards,  ends 10/27 http://ning.it/aZsTA6 #giveaway #family RT@familyliteracy" (Can tweet up to 2x's a day till 10/27 for 2 entries each)
• Join my mailing list on Holiday Traditions (left column) and receive an extra entry into all giveaways from November 24 - Dec 8th! Also get advance notices of events and special opportunities for readers of all 3 of my blogs! (3).
• Vote for my GivingNSharing Blog or my Family Literacy and You blog and receive 1 entry per vote.  Please list which ones you did.  Thanks! (Up to 6 entries total)
• Make a purchase on Everyday Celebrations over $6.50 and receive 10 entries!

Closing details:

This giveaway will run until October 27^th and closes at 10 pm.  I will do the drawing at 10 pm (by Random.org) so the winner can get their PDF ordered and it’s delivered as soon as possible.  Your PDF will come as a Zipped File and if you have questions about what “zipped” means, LeAnne will be happy to help you out.

I received a copy of the 'Give Thanks' Countdown Cards from LeAnne in order to do the review.  I received no financial compensation and all opinions in this review are my own.   I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255