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Thanksgiving is a holiday that is often synonymous with big feasts and harvest celebrations. It has a complex history rooted in the arrival of European colonialists on Indigenous land. Indigenous communities across Turtle Island (North America) have been giving thanks for the bounty of the earth, and yields from the harvest since time immemorial. These gratitude ceremonies, throughout the year, often involve communal gatherings to engage in feasts, prayers, and dance to acknowledge our connection to nature and express gratitude for the land. Plus, there are many reasons that encourage being grateful for nature.
When it comes to giving thanks in general, it is a long-standing tradition that Indigenous Peoples have always practiced and by learning we can honour the role they had in this holiday. It is a great time to reflect and learn about how Indigenous Peoples celebrate the harvest season and to learn more about Indigenous Peoples history of the land of your region. Throughout October, we can tap into these traditional ways of knowing and being, to rethink how we show our gratitude for the gifts that our environment provides.
As an educator, you can add outdoor learning to your student’s gratitude practice this year by incorporating lessons in nature. Outdoor play and activities for young learners have many benefits that go beyond just being physically active. It can help broaden their understanding of the environment and why preserving it matters. It alerts them to the benefits of nature and our need to protect what Mother nature has provided us. It also increases our understanding of Indigenous Peoples connection to the land and the diverse contributions they have made to Canada. Below are some activities that can help young people deepen their gratitude and appreciation for nature.
Climate Justice and Action Through Art
In this activity, encourage learners to spend time outdoors, exploring different elements in the natural environment to help them take a closer look at natural elements that help build a connection and sense of gratitude. Being grateful for nature includes considering how these elements interact in nature to sustain life. You can introduce texture as an element of art by selecting three items which are natural and made, such as: wood, plastic, stone, or metal.
Seat learners in a sharing circle and allow them to pass around these three items. Each learner should have an opportunity to describe the object by its texture and how that texture makes them feel. Provide your learners with the definition of texture, and explain that it is one of the seven elements of art. Explain how texture deals with our sense of touch and can also evoke feelings such as pleasure, discomfort, or familiarity. Next, ask them to select six objects and write down how they feel as they examine each one.
Learners will now create their own 3D art using natural and/or made materials found in a water source environment (local park, pond, creek, etc.) or any natural environment. Learners can collect any natural and/or made materials they find to bring back to the classroom to complete their art piece. Allow them to create art pieces that incorporate texture into the story of their art. Learners can be as creative as they like. They can use things they found in the environment and glue them together to create a 3D structure or utilize pieces from the environment to create an image that pops right out of the page.
Enter the Contest
If you’re participating in this activity, we encourage you to enter our contest for a chance to win a $50 gift card from the Outdoor Learning School and Store. Students will explore the outdoors by completing the Climate Justice and Action Through Art Activity.
Teachers can participate in the contest by posting their students' artwork and including a caption that highlights what the students have learned. All the entries will then be turned into eCards and shared with our audience. To earn bonus entries, teachers can have their students submit their artwork directly using the eCard tool.
The contest runs from September 22nd to November 1st, 2025. The winner will be announced shortly after or when all eCards have been created. We will share contest posts throughout September and October. The winning entry will be chosen randomly and will receive a prize. The contest will be promoted through GreenLearning’s fall blog, social media and newsletter.
Here's how to enter
- Complete the Climate Justice and Action Through Art Activity with your students.
- Once done, take a picture of your student's artwork and share it on social media. Remember to tag us @greenlearning so we can see your entry.
- Receive a bonus entry by having your students submit their art to our eCards tool.
Ripples of Change: Nature Mandala
Gather your learners and create ripples of change. This activity will help youth consider the positive change they can make in their lives, schools and communities through starting little ripples. A nature mandala helps them understand how ripples of change can happen. On the flipside, engaging in this creative exercise can also help ease the feelings of stress that come along with thinking about climate change and convert those emotions into gratitude and hope for the future. By the end of this activity, learners will be able to understand that while climate change is happening and it can feel scary, we can still make positive ripples of change for our world. Finally, they will create a beautiful nature mandala inspired by a ripple.
Giving Thanks and Gratitude: Sila and the Land
The act of giving thanks for what we have is a common practice in many cultures around the world. It involves saying, “thank you,” through verbal or written expression, offering prayer or praise and acts of service by helping others with acts of kindness and generosity. Our Giving Thanks and Gratitude activity will help your learners discover what giving thanks and showing gratitude means to them and enable them to share this awareness with others around them. The activity follows the teachings from Sila and the Land, an Indigenous storybook for kids and it focuses on the traditional teachings of giving thanks.
By the end of this activity, learners will be able to…
- Have an awareness of people and things that make life meaningful.
- Describe the benefits of demonstrating gratitude to others
- Explain the concept of giving thanks in a contemporary society and in traditional Indigenous cultures
- Understand the importance of showing respect to all, and one’s belongingsPractice giving thanks, and showing gratitude