Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year for bringing families closer together. Sharing a big meal with immediate and extended family, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and eating pumpkin pie are all ways for families to connect. Getting kids involved with planning and decorating for the holiday is an easy way to help them feel like a bigger part of the celebration.
Hand Turkeys
To make this holiday classic, kids will need
- Scissors
- Colored construction paper
- Glue
- Markers
Help younger kids trace their hand on a brown piece of construction paper to form the body and some tail feathers of the turkey. For other feathers, cut out oval pieces of construction paper and allow kids to glue them onto the turkey. Use markers to draw the turkey’s eyes and beak on the thumb of the hand. These turkeys can be hung up on windows or around a dining room as Thanksgiving day decoration.
Thanksgiving Cornucopia
This easy craft will take only a few minutes to complete, and requires
- Large pieces of thick brown construction paper
- Glue
- Small gourds, nuts or candy
- Markers
Children will roll the pieces of construction paper into tubes, gluing the edges shut. The tubes should have a wide opening and narrow to a point at the back, so they look like the traditional cornucopia, or “horn of plenty.” Fill the cornucopia with the gourds, nuts or candy and decorate the outside with Thanksgiving messages or the names of family members.
Leaf Prints
Making leaf prints is a great way to get kids outside and working on a fun and artistic craft. Kids will need
- Leaves
- Black construction paper
- Paint in various colors
Once kids have selected their leaves, allow kids to lightly paint the upward facing side of the leaves. Then, help them arrange the leaves in a pattern around the size of the sheet of construction paper. Press the paper onto the leaves; this will leave a colorful print of the leaves on the paper. Once the paper has dried, it can be laminated to make placemats or hung up as artwork.
Thanksgiving Tablecloth
Making a tablecloth for Thanksgiving is a great way to include kids in the decoration process; whether the tablecloth goes on the dining room table or is used for the kids’ table, it will make a great piece for kids to show relatives. To make it, kids will need
- White tablecloth
- Paint
- Pumpkin, leaf, pilgrim and turkey pattern stamps or sponges
Wash the tablecloth before it is painted. Lay it out in an open space where kids aren’t likely to get paint on carpet, walls or furniture. Allow kids to decorate the tablecloth with stamps and painted images of Thanksgiving symbols, and then let the tablecloth dry before it is used.
 |
