Keep Your Litte Turkeys Entertained With these Thanksgiving Crafts

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Don’t get me wrong, nothing beats the Christmas season & what it’s all about, but as far the actual day of festivities, Thanksgiving takes the cake (or should I say pie) for me. I mean, a day that is set aside to count our blessings, gather with friends & family, & stuff my face with turkey & blueberry pie (sorry pumpkin, you’re not the star in this house) is hard to beat, am I right? 

I guess that’s why I like to go all out with decor & fun activities. It just seems like a notion we should be incorporating in our lives a whole lot more than a mere 24hours. Enter-thanksgiving crafts! Real talk friends, I wanted to share a lot more than the three below, & even had plans of adding my own printable thanksgiving worksheet for the kids table, but...life... It’s now less than 48 hours till your turkey is (hopefully) fully defrosted & the relatives are arguing on the doorstep, so this is all I’ve got in the final hour. Maybe I’ll be more on top of things come Christmas, but I think we all know that’s a long shot, since basically no one is more put together at Christmas, least of all me.

I’m hitting you with my all time favorite craft, EVER, first! I’m calling it the thankful tree for obvious reasons. I know there’s about as many “thankful” crafts out there as overzealous husbands attempting trash can turkeys (stop the insanity), but this one brings a new level of fun & adventure to the dusty thankful tree craft. 

This craft is great for a Friendsgiving, a kids party, or even on Thanksgiving day to keep the kids away from your husbands dumpster fire (literally) & entertained, so you can focus on not burning the rolls this year. If you do though, I can tell you from personal experience that this Hushkeeper Pinot Gris pairs perfectly with charred bread & this Limelife mascara won’t run when you start to cry 😉

I did this craft for a little kidsgiving, but it’s perfect for a day of activity with all the cousins. If you don’t have a ton of trees in your yard, you may want to take a walk around the neighborhood to collect a couple tiny branches to sprinkle throughout your yard before you send the kids out. Then tell the kiddos to head out in the yard, go nuts, & bring back an awesome branch. Pretty simple, & the kids will have so much fun on their mission. 

When they come back in give each one a clay pot with their name already on it & a floral foam brick piece in it. Have the older kids pick however many pretty pieces of paper you want them to do, trace their hand on it, & cut it out. Obviously the little ones need assistance, but it’s still so fun for them. Then have them write one thing they’re thankful for on each hand, or ask the little ones & write it for them. Put the stick in the middle of the foam piece & hot glue the hands to the branches. Feel free to put leaves, pine straw or anything else around the base to hide foam. 

Supplies:

Branches

Paper for hand cutouts (get some festive prints here)

Markers

Permanent marker or paint marker to write on pot (my favorite paint markers here)

Tiny clay pots (find em here) 

Scissors 

Hot glue gun

Floral foam bricks (here)

Optional:

Leaves or pine straw to hide foam

Display in house all season, as the kids table centerpiece, or in their bedroom to remind them of their blessings. Put it away somewhere safe & pull out year after year as a sweet reminder of how much those little hands have grown & they’ve matured, probably finding bigger things to be grateful for than “donuts” like my kid last year.

This next one is one you may want to accomplish before the big day, so it can make itself useful in the action. Pretty simple folks...buy a pot holder, preferably these craft ones, get some paint, make a handprint, & decorate like a turkey. Even the most unartistic individuals can come out looking like Martha Stewart on this one. Next, flip over, trace a real leaf or grab a stencil & add a little flare to your personalized heat protector. 

Last up, your little turkey. Gobble, gobble y’all. It doesn’t get more simple than this, & every kid loves sticking their hands & feet in wet paint. 

Directions:

Look at the picture y’all..it’s handprints & a footprint, you can’t mess this up. Slap a face on it, & if I haven’t scared you away with the intensity of this art project, take it one step further & laminate. This way you can display it every November, no matter how many gravy spills it sees. Happy Thanksgiving, friends! God bless you & your loved ones this holiday season.