Tapestry of Faith: Circle of Trees: A Multigenerational Program about Nourishing Deep Connections with Nature

Activity 5: Thank You to Trees

Part of Circle of Trees

Activity time: 20 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Art materials, such as watercolors, color pencils, markers, and drawing paper
  • Handout 1, Poetry Prompts
  • Pens, pencils, and writing paper
  • Recordings of quiet, meditative music or forest sounds, and music player

Preparation for Activity

  • Set up one table with art supplies and a second with poetry-writing supplies.
  • Prepare the music player with a selection of music.
  • Optional: Invite a guest artist or poet to help with the workshop.

Description of Activity

Participants will create an artistic or poetic expression of gratitude to trees. Introduce the activity with these words or your own:

As an expression of our gratitude to trees, we'll each create a "thank you to trees." This can be a drawing or painting, or perhaps you'd like to write a poem-or you can do both! You can work on your own or collaborate with others. Enjoy the quiet music as you work. After about 15 minutes, we'll re-gather and share what we've done with the group.

Give the group time to work. Re-gather the group with enough time to share.

Including All Participants

If a participant isn't comfortable sharing, allow that person to pass.