Keep children busy while you and the other adults prepare the Thanksgiving meal by planning and preparing several crafts for them to make. You and your children can also have a Thanksgiving craft day a few days before the holiday. Make crafts that can be used as part of the table setting, such as place cards or napkin holders.
Keep children busy while you and the other adults prepare the Thanksgiving meal by planning and preparing several crafts for them to make. You and your children can also have a Thanksgiving craft day a few days before the holiday. Make crafts that can be used as part of the table setting, such as place cards or napkin holders.
Hand Turkey Place Cards
Trace your child’s hand to make turkey place cards. Traced place cards work best if you have a young child with small hands, otherwise the card may take up too much space at the table. Trace the hand onto construction paper until you have enough for each place setting. Cut out each hand and help the child write each guest’s name on the cards. Decorate the hands so that they look like little turkeys. You may want to glue a googly eye onto the thumb and attach a few brightly colored feathers to the other fingers. Attach a cut-in-half Popsicle stick to the back of the middle finger on each hand so that the cards stay upright.
Pilgrim’s Hat
Help your children make cardboard Pilgrim’s hats to wear on Thanksgiving. Cut a strip of poster board or other heavy weight paper to fit around the child’s head. Glue, tape or staple the strip into a circle. On a piece of cardboard, help the child draw a pilgrim’s hat. A simple way to do so is to draw a rectangle with a triangle at the bottom. Cut out the hat. Decorate it with a band along the bottom and a golden buckle. Use fabric for the band and a metallic paint for the buckle. Staple the hat to circle and balance it on the child’s head.
Turkey or Pilgrim Napkin Holders
Turn empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls into napkin rings. Have a child cut the rolls into 2-inch high rings. Cut the rolls yourself if the child has trouble or is very young. Cut out four oval “feathers” from construction paper for each turkey ring. Cut another oval for the turkey’s body. Arrange the four ovals to form the feathers and center the turkey’s body on top of the feathers. Glue together, and then glue the turkey to the top of the ring. Make pilgrim holders by drawing a collar on the top half of the ring and painting the bottom half black. Personalize the rings by attaching cut out photo of each guest’s head to the top of the ring.
Tree of Thankfulness
Cut a large tree trunk out of brown construction paper. Have children cut out several leaves from red, orange and yellow paper. Tape the tree to the wall. On Thanksgiving Day, have each child and adult write one thing they are thankful for on each leaf. Tape the leaves around the tree trunk, either at its base as if they’ve fallen already or on its branches.
