Colouring · Craft · Talking
The praise tree
Each child colours a tree, then the class fills a shared tree with paper leaves of kind words for one another.
- 40 minutes
- Whole class
- Ages 7–9, Ages 9–12
- Classroom
- Printable: colouring page
What to do
- Read the meaning: praise the young and they will flourish. Ask what it means for a plant to flourish, and what it might mean for a person.
- Everyone colours the tree on their own sheet while you put names into a bag.
- Each child picks a name from the bag, keeps it secret, and writes one kind, true thing about that person on a paper leaf. It should be about what they do, not how they look.
- Read the leaves before they go up, to check every leaf is kind.
- Glue the leaves onto the big class tree. Read some of them aloud.
- Children can add a small leaf to their own coloured tree with something they are proud of themselves.
Questions to talk about
- How does it feel to read a kind word about yourself?
- Is it easier to praise someone else or yourself? Why?
You will need
- The printed colouring page, one each
- Coloured pencils
- Green and yellow paper cut into leaf shapes
- Child-safe scissors
- Glue sticks
- A large sheet of paper with a bare tree drawn on it
Make it fit
Simpler: Younger children can draw a picture on their leaf instead of writing, or an adult can write their words for them.
More of a stretch: Ask each child to praise an effort, not a result: something the person kept trying at.
Printables
The instructions card is for the adult running the activity; the worksheet is for the children. Prints on A4 or US Letter at 100% / actual size; colour is optional.
The colouring page
The praise tree
Name
Colour the tree. Add a leaf with something you are proud of.
The instructions card
How to run it · Colouring · Craft · Talking
The praise tree
Each child colours a tree, then the class fills a shared tree with paper leaves of kind words for one another.
40 minutesWhole classAges 7–9, Ages 9–12
What to do
- Read the meaning: praise the young and they will flourish. Ask what it means for a plant to flourish, and what it might mean for a person.
- Everyone colours the tree on their own sheet while you put names into a bag.
- Each child picks a name from the bag, keeps it secret, and writes one kind, true thing about that person on a paper leaf. It should be about what they do, not how they look.
- Read the leaves before they go up, to check every leaf is kind.
- Glue the leaves onto the big class tree. Read some of them aloud.
- Children can add a small leaf to their own coloured tree with something they are proud of themselves.
You will need
- The printed colouring page, one each
- Coloured pencils
- Green and yellow paper cut into leaf shapes
- Child-safe scissors
- Glue sticks
- A large sheet of paper with a bare tree drawn on it
Talk about
- How does it feel to read a kind word about yourself?
- Is it easier to praise someone else or yourself? Why?
Make it fit
Simpler: Younger children can draw a picture on their leaf instead of writing, or an adult can write their words for them.
Stretch: Ask each child to praise an effort, not a result: something the person kept trying at.
Goes with the printable colouring page.