Here it is! A sneak peek of a labor-of-love product we’ve been working on over the last year – The Virtues Tree!
Back when our first son struggled to help us clean up toys and to smile at strangers (or we struggled with his efforts to do so), I searched far and wide for any concrete and fun tools to help us. After finding a suggestion for a felt board one in The Virtues Guide, my son and I set out to create our own Virtues Tree with paints and poster board. We hung it in our dining room/kitchen area, integrated some activities, and started on a fun path of growing character, one Virtues Fruit at a time!
Inspired by our family’s eight-year journey creating and using a homemade painted Virtues Tree, we at Tender Sapling recently commissioned an artist (Scott’s amazing aunt, Marg Bucher) to paint what we think is a gorgeous and whimsical tree that will capture the hearts and imaginations of children! It comes with beautiful full-color and black-and-white versions of 12 Virtues Fruits that a family (or class) can attach to the tree as part of learning about and practicing each virtue. Plus, we’re working on an e-book that will be chock full of creative and concrete ways to help children of all ages explore each virtue!
We’re excited to share this low-resolution image with you and to get your input as we prepare to launch it via Kickstarter! If you’re familiar with crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter, then you know it’s a great way to share your dream with others and join together as a community to make it a reality. But before we get to that stage, we want your thoughts on the Virtues Tree via this survey. You can see previews of the fruits there too. Respond by October 1 and submit your information to enter a chance to win a $25 Tender Sapling Gift Card as a thank you for participating in the survey!
We’re delighted to offer a Gratitude Giveaway during this season of thankfulness!
It’s one way we can partner with other wonderful folks to support you in raising your kiddos (or grandkids, nieces, nephews, friends’ kids, etc.) to grow noble – cultivate their inner virtues, world citizenship, and green living.
We have two wonderful treats for you:
* Playing with Purpose, an ebook from Moments a Day creator Chelsea Lee Smith with over 100 fun and simple activities to help your children learn about a range of positive character traits such as helpfulness
* A Tender Sapling adult tee – pick from four styles in either men’s or women’s cuts. We had many requests for larger youth/adult tees and they are available now!
All you have to do to enter is answer this question in the comments below:
What are you thankful for?
(you’re welcome to simply list one thing you’re grateful for today or this month, etc.)
Comment by11:59 pmPST, Monday, December 2, 2013 (the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.) to enter. Entrants must have a U.S. mailing address. Winner will be randomly selected and announced here and on Facebook and Twitter on Tuesday, December 3, and must reply within 3 days or prize goes to the second name drawn.
NOTE:This Giveaway has ended. The winner of a copy of Playing with Purpose & a Tender Sapling adult tee is 1955nurseCunningham, who has received details via an email from us. Congrats, 1955nurseCunningham! Many thanks to all who entered and shared what they are grateful for. The thoughts in the comments below were very moving to read and we hope everyone enjoyed them as much as we did.
Bonus entries will be provided for those who do any of the following.
Bonus Entry 1: ”Like” Tender Sapling on Facebook. (Leave a separate comment if you have done this.)
Bonus Entry 2: Follow Tender Sapling on Twitter. (Leave a separate comment if you have done this.)
Bonus Entry 3: Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter using @tendersapling and #giveaway in your tweet. (Leave a separate comment if you have done this.)
Bonus Entry 4: Sign up for Tender Sapling newsletters (sent usually 1-2x a month, a bit more during the holidays). (Leave a separate comment if you have done this.)
If you haven’t already, visit Moments a Day and sign up for email newsletters to get access to her free ebook 30 Cooperative Games for Preschoolers. We hope you enjoy discovering Moments a Day as much as we have. We’re grateful for Chelsea’s inspiring blog and resources and are sure you will be too. (We also appreciate her sweet review of Tender Sapling’s products as part of a giveaway she offered when her ebook launched earlier this month. You can read it here.)
Disclosure: All opinions expressed are my own and I was not compensated at all for this post.
It’s been great to hear the nice feedback about the new pink products – “gorgeous” from Chelsea at Moments a Day and “adorable” from Homa at Growing Up Global, for example. But even more, we’re grateful for all those who embrace the idea of promoting education for girls as a basic human right. You don’t need to have a girl in your life or to buy pink to support girls education. Direct contributions can always be made directly to The Malala Fund or another organization working to improve opportunities for girls worldwide.
With 65 million girls worldwide unable to attend school due to discrimination, poverty, and violence, this is a huge issue that truly holds back the world. After all, as the African proverb says it best:
Educate a boy, and you’re educating an individual. Educate a girl and you are educating an entire village.
Many people who have heard me talk about Malala this last month aren’t sure who I’m talking about at first. But when I describe the girl who was shot in the face last year by the Taliban for attending school; the young woman who, once recovered, addressed the UN, authored a book, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting the education of girls, pretty much everyone remembers. Most everyone has heard of Malala.
So, in the spirit of celebrating girls and raising funds for girls education, here are a few fun things to share:
As mentioned in our first pink launch blog post, we thought the illumination of world landmarks in pink light on the 2012 International Day of the Girl by Plan International rocked. Here are a couple images from Plan International‘s website of 2013 landmarks glowing pink:
The Empire State Building lit up pink for the International Day of the Girl, 2013 (photo: Plan International)
Festivities at the fountain in Central Park, Guatemala City – lit up pink for the International Day of the Girl (photo: Plan International)
Pretty wonderful, huh?
Here are a few favorite pictures of Malala confidently wearing pink that helped inspire us to design the launch of our first pink products to benefit her foundation. We love that one of the designs on our new pink tops is our “Love All the World” theme which fits a global initiative like this “to a tee.” 🙂
Malala Yousafzai with a pink backpack. Getty Images.
Malala Yousafzai addressing the United Nations, July 2013. photo: Reuters
Malala Yousafzai, in pink, received a Glamour 2013 Women of the Year Award.
On another note, did you know that in just the last hundred years, pink has gone from being a primarily male-associated color to being the female-associated color we know today? Perhaps in another decade pink will be embraced equally as a male and female color, as everyone looks good in pink, right? 🙂 We are parents of three boys, who have at various stages loved (some still love) wearing pink, as this picture shows:
MALALA DAY IS THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10!
There is less than one week left for 9% of the sales of our new pink tops to benefit The Malala Fund, so if you’ve been meaning to get an order in, please do so by Sunday.
And certainly, if you wish to directly support The Malala Fund or any of the many great funds in support of girls education, please do! Here is the link again to The Malala Fund!”
If you have a connection you’d like to help us make in promoting our Pink for Girls Education special, please email us at: theteam@tendersapling.com We’d love your help to get the word out these last few days of the fundraiser!
Happy Malala Day!May the educational opportunities for girls worldwide be dramatically improved this time next year!
We’re so excited to launch our new pink line today – the International Day of the Girl – and to announce that 9% of all sales between today and Malala Day (Nov 10) will go to The Malala Fund to benefit girls education projects around the world!
But before going further, a little morning humor. In my excitement this morning, I said to my three boys,
“Do you know what we’re launching today?”
“A rocket?!” said our middle tender sapling. lol! 🙂
Gotta love living life with boys! And as a mother of only boys in this world and someone who has been keenly interested and invested in supporting women’s and girl’s issues over the last couple decades, including via the Tahirih Justice Center and Best for Babes, it’s so wonderful to find a way to help advance the situation of girls with our new pink bodysuits and tees. It’s our rocket to support girls! 🙂 Continue reading →
This month’s Thankfulness Thursday Giveaway is sure bring good cheer. If you’ve read my post introducing Renee & Jeremy and their sublime tunes, you already know how much we adore them in our home. And judging by the stellar turnout for that giveaway of their It’s a Big World cd (plus a Tender Sapling Love All the World tee), you agree!
We’re thrilled to offer another amazing cd by Renee & Jeremy this month, paired up with one 8-pack Sampler Set of Tender Sapling Greeting Cards. Enter here by 11:59 p.m. PST on Thursday, December 13, 2012. Read on for more details on the prizes. Continue reading →
This time of year my soul feels as if it’s sipping a mug of delicious hot apple cider – there is so much heart-warming thankfulness floating in the air from everyone around me. For all our readers around the world, this Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States, so we’re neck high in turkeys, Pilgrims, and, most wonderfully, lots of giving of thanks. It’s one of my favorite American holidays as I always find joy in the communal act of pausing to give thanks for the simple things, past and present.
This year I’ve tried something new with the children. We directed our thankfulness thoughts to the future as well. Nah, we don’t have a crystal ball. I wasn’t suggesting that the kids be thankful for an unknown future – though there’s value being thankful for the promise of tomorrow, a brighter future ahead.
Instead, I shared with them something I’d been reflecting on lately. That thankfulness is of two kinds – words and deeds. There is giving thanks through one’s words by saying “Thank You” and the like. And then there is showing gratitude through one’s actions.
NOTE:This Giveaway has ended. The winner of Tender Sapling’s $50 Gift Certificate Giveaway is…Laura V., who has received details via an email from us. Congrats, Laura V! Many thanks to all who entered and shared! The number of Likes on Tender Sapling’s Facebook page quadrupled over the last 10 days during LOVEfest 2012! Another giveaway to be announced later this week! Stay tuned…
If you are reading this before Hurricane Sandy has cleared your path and you have power and a safe, dry roof over your head, let me wish you smooth sailing through the storm and its aftermath. If you are not so lucky, please know that millions of people across the world are praying for your safety. Regardless of whether you live in the affected area or have power, this post is for you.
However you slice this storm’s prediction, it’s serious. Sunday evening’s news not only included announcements for local schools closings, but the incredibly rare pre-storm cancellation of classes at the University of Virginia (my husband’s employer and the site of our first meeting some twenty years ago). I went to bed thinking how severe the storm’s punch would be if the National Weather Service’s 11 p.m. statement warned anyone not all ready for a prolonged power outage to haul your tushy out to the store to complete any last storm prep a.s.a.p. And all this in an area predicted to get only 1-3 inches of rain (update: now 2-6, and possibly snow too) – a ton less than the 8-10 inches expected in the storm center’s path. (Of course, the wind factor here is supposed to be close to the highest speeds for this storm.)
The last thing I thought I’d do this morning is write a blog post. But I woke before the kids and heard the swirl of questions rise up from the still of my subconscious. Do we have enough water and batteries? Is this storm really the largest in a quarter century to hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States? How long might we all be without power?
My personal questions shifted into the multitude of anticipated questions from my little ones’ young minds. Why can’t we play with the flashlight in our fort? Why can’t I go biking right now? Why can I see my breath inside? Why can’t I feel my toes? Why does this dinner look like canned dog food?
Storm-time fun, kid-style: Biking in the a foot of snow! (Jan 2010)
And that’s when I realized what a huge opportunity Sandy is for teaching a range of life lessons to our little ones (and ourselves, right?). While no one knows for sure the impact that Sandy will have on an estimated 50-60 million human lives – people from all corners of the earth in America’s great melting pot of the I-95 corridor and hundreds of miles around, by all accounts it’s going to be historically significant. Continue reading →
Who doesn’t love Autumn? With leaves morphing through the full spectrum of warm colors, a refreshing crispness in the air, harvest foods to enjoy – what’s not to love?
Grass. Yes, grass. This morning grass had taken the charm out of Fall for me (and that’s saying a lot, given that Fall was formerly my favorite season, tied with Spring and Summer, with Winter not far behind).
As yard-owning Americans (who try to green it with native plantings, a vegetable garden, etc.) and parents of three sons who trample it endlessly, ripping it to shreds with their bikes and constant romping, my husband and I have re-entered the realm of Trying to Grow Grass.
Learn these fun massage moves to celebrate how your little one — your own tender sapling — is growing from a seed into a mighty tree! The demonstrated massage sequence is featured on the activity tag which comes with all Tender Sapling-themed textile products.
Here it is! A sneak peek of a labor-of-love product we’ve been working on over the last year – The Virtues Tree!
Tender Sapling 