Living On Purpose: Pay It Forward

We are officially heading into fall now! You know what that means! Trips to Dexter Bakery, pumpkin patches, and fall camping! For us, fall camping is our favorite! We love taking hikes on trails with fallen leaves crunching under our feet and we love cozying up around a bonfire wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot cocoa as we tell stories of our childhood and have laughing fits about dumb stuff we’ve done throughout the years.

Of course, because I am crazy, our house is already decorated for the fall. I started decorating weeks ago and my friends were freaking out telling me it was still summer. I can’t help it! I love the fall! Bring on the hot cider!

I was trying to think of a great fall pay it forward project and I have one for all my teacher friends out there! I try to be careful with giving teachers’ pay it forward projects because, let’s be honest, they are already under paid and over worked and have a huge responsibility with molding young minds and nurturing kiddos. But, I know that teachers love to invest in kids and this project is an easy way for them to show love to their kiddos this fall and you can even involve the kids in your class! This is a great project for elementary school teachers and aids as well as for Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop leaders, too!

Here is what you do:

Make a leaf stencil

Have your kids use it to cut out paper leaves (make your leaf stencil at least the size of an adult hand). You can use colored paper (fall colors) or you can use plain white paper and have your students use water colors to paint their leaves or they can use crayons to decorate them.

Make sure to have your students write their names on the back of their leaf.

Then, teachers or troop leaders can write a positive message to each student on their leaf and then hang their leaves around the room, on your classroom door, or tape them to their desk!

Your students will be surprised with an encouraging message personally written to them by you!

It’s an easy way to get your students involved and it’s a great way to pay it forward to your students or class this fall!