Easy Thanksgiving Crafts
by Houston Family Magazine
Thanksgiving is a great time of year to make crafts with your kids—not only will you make some great holiday memories, but you’ll be able to keep the things they make and use them as decorations for years to come. Here are a few ideas for Thanksgiving crafts you and your children can make together:
Handprint Turkeys
You or your parents may have made similar “handprint turkeys” as children—they’re a decoration that never goes out of style.
You will need…
- a black marker
- white paper
- colored markers, paint, glitter, sequins, and/or feathers for decoration
Directions
1. Trace your child’s hand on the paper. Draw eyes, feet, and a beak to turn your child’s handprint into a turkey. Have your child decorate its “wings” and the rest of its body however he or she wants!
Thanksgiving Place Cards
These are simple to make and handy to have, especially if you’ll be having a large Thanksgiving dinner! Young kids can make these and then set the table with them on Thanksgiving Day—it’s a great way for them to feel like they’re “helping out” with the holiday preparations.
You will need…
- a stack of 4x6 notecards (as many cards as guests) or colored construction paper
- scissors
- glue
- a ruler
- a pencil
- markers, sequins, googly eyes, stickers, or other decorative items
Directions
1. If you’re using notecards, fold each in half longways. If you’re using construction paper, measure 4x6” rectangles with the ruler and cut them out, then fold each in half. Have the person with the neatest handwriting in your family label each with the name of one of your guests.
2. Have your kids decorate each place card with a holiday-themed drawing or with a drawing of something they think each guest would like (for example, a soccer ball for a soccer-playing cousin), or with holiday stickers or other decorations. You can use whatever you like for decorations—use your imaginations!
Turkey Headdress
Make a turkey headdress for your little one to wear all day long!
You will need…
- sheets of craft foam in red, yellow, orange, and brown
- scissors
- pencil
- drawing compass and ruler
- holepunch
- yarn
Directions
1. Fold one brown sheet of craft foam lengthwise and then cut it in half. You should have two strips, each about 2” across. Hold them up to your child’s head and trim the excess. Punch holes in each end, and don’t glue anything over these holes—when you’re done, you will tie them together with the yarn to make the headdress.
2. Make a large circle, a medium circle, and a small circle on another sheet of brown craft foam with your drawing compass. Cut these out and set them aside—they will form the turkey’s body.
3. Trace long oval “feathers” on the other colored sheets of craft foam—you’ll want 9 “feathers” in alternating colors. Make them about two inches longer than the diameter of the largest circle.
4. Glue the “feathers” in a fan shape in the middle of one of the strips of brown craft foam. Glue the largest circle on top of the “feathers” so that it hides the feathers’ bottom and their tops poke out a few inches higher than its top. Glue the medium circle on top of the large circle, with its bottom level with the large circle’s bottom. Last, glue on the small circle at the top of the medium circle to form the turkey’s “head.”
5. Draw on the turkey’s eyes, beak, and wattle, or cut eyes, beak, and wattle out of craft foam and glue them on.
6. Tie the ends of both strips of craft foam together with yarn. Voila—it’s a turkey headdress!
Leaves of Thanks
This is an easy way to decorate your home for Thanksgiving, as well as keeping the spirit of the holiday in everyone’s minds. You and your kids will make a stack of paper leaves ahead of time, then give one to each guest as he or she arrives. Each guest will write something he or she is particularly grateful for on the leaf—then you will tie or glue each leaf to the string and hang your “leaves of thanks” up for everyone to see! Keep your garland when the holiday’s over—you can add to it year after year.
You will need…
- colored construction paper
- scissors
- a pencil
- a long piece of string or yarn (long enough to cover the wall or doorway where you want to hang your garland—we suggest hanging it in the dining room where everyone will eat Thanksgiving dinner)
- a jar of black pens or Sharpies
- glue (optional)
Directions
1. Trace leaf shapes on colored construction paper, or search for leaf patterns online and use them to trace leaf shapes. Cut out your leaves and give one to each guest. Keep the jar of black pens or Sharpies handy for guests to use—it may be a good idea to have a few extra paper leaves on hand in case people make mistakes or want to start over again.
2. When everyone’s arrived and turned in their leaves, have your kids tie or glue the leaves to the piece of string or yarn. This is a good way to keep your kids occupied while they’re waiting for dinner to cook. Once the garland is ready, hang it up for everyone to admire!
