5 Thanksgiving Activities for Children

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This post has been submitted by Sarah Normandie.

Looking for some new, creative activities for your children to jumpstart Thanksgiving this year? Look no further! Check out the following 5 activities that are sure to make your Thanksgiving extra special!

1. Make a Turkey Dixie Cup Craft

Gather a white Dixie cup, brown paint, googly eyes, and fall colored construction paper. Have your child paint the cup brown. As the paint dries, help your child trace and cut out colored paper feathers. Fan the paper feathers and staple. Once the paint is dry, glue the paper feathers to your cup. Add googly eyes, a paper beak and feet. Your children are sure to love this turkey craft!

2. Create a Thankful Book

Start a new family tradition to last through the years. Create a thankful book to display at Thanksgiving. Encourage your guests to sign their name and write something they are thankful for inside.

To make the book, you will need a small notebook, preferably with a dull cardboard cover. Next, decorate the book with a turkey handprint. Paint your child’s hand and thumb brown. Paint each finger a different fall color, such as red, green, orange and yellow. Stamp your child’s hand on the front cover. When the paint dries, help your child draw legs, an eye, and a beak. You can use small leaf cookie cutters dipped in paint to make leaf stamps as well.

Don’t forget to share the gratitude messages inside during dessert. Continue this tradition each year. Just think of the memories that will be stored inside this treasure!

3. Bake a Secret Cranberry Bread Recipe

Tell your children you are going to bake a “secret” cranberry bread recipe. The recipe can be found in the children’s Thanksgiving book, Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin.  In this Thanksgiving tale, Grandma is not happy when her granddaughter Maggie invites Mr. Whiskers to Thanksgiving dinner. Grandma doesn’t like Mr. Whiskers because he is unkempt and straggly. She likes her guest, Mr. Horace who is neat and tidy. But when Grandma’s secret cranberry bread recipe is stolen, it’s Mr. Whiskers who saves the day! Talk to your children about the importance of kindness, being compassionate, and not judging others based on appearances. Don’t forget to share a warm piece of your special cranberry bread with your Thanksgiving guests!

4. Make Thank You Cards

Decorate construction paper thank you cards by using cookie cutters shaped like leaves and acorns in brown, red, yellow, and green paint. Stamp on orange paper. Sprinkle gold glitter on top of the wet paint to make your fall design sparkle! Once the paint is dry, help your child write a special thank you inside for someone they love. Grandparents love this!

5. Bring Out the Board Games

Thanksgiving is a time to create special family memories. After dinner, shut off the cellphones, laptops, and i-pods. Instead, pull out some board games to play with the family. Some favorites at our house are, You Got to Be Kidding/Would You Rather and Stare Junior. These are simple games that the whole family can play.

I hope these activities will help make your Thanksgiving extra special. Have a wonderful holiday!