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Thanksgiving Craft Ideas and Projects for Homeschooling Families

by Mary Adalbert | Nov 20, 2015 | 3 min read

When the last of the brilliant colored leaves have fallen in November, it’s time to set our sights on Thanksgiving.  Homeschooling families near and far are blessed with an abundance of crafts and projects to celebrate this warming holiday.  From handprint turkey cards to brown paper thankfulness trees, the options are varied and endless.
The following are our top five favorite Thanksgiving craft ideas and projects for homeschooling families.

1. Chalkboard Turkey Handprint Cards
Let there be handprint art!  As long as we have five fingers, there will always be craft ideas to put them to good use.  With one hand comes an infinite amount of possibilities.  The handprint card idea featured here is hassle-free, and leaves lots of room for the imagination.  Your little crafter will have plenty of space to create on whatever sized card you choose, and the cards can be used as gift cards, decorations for branches on a thankfulness tree, or thank you tags.  The idea with this particular craft is to use chalkboard paper as the base, rather than traditional white paper or construction paper.  The Pilgrim Handprint Project is another similar craft idea, and is pretty self-explanatory.

2. Thanksgiving Gratitude Box
What if you had a special box where everyone in your family secretly wrote down something that they are thankful for?  If your children are a little older, or if you’ve already made your share of handprint crafts, you might want to consider the Thanksgiving Gratitude Box.   Not only will this project give your students an outlet for creative expression, it is also an opportunity to teach your children about gratitude.  What a great time of year to help your family focus on a perspective of gratitude.

3. Gratitude Garland
There’s something magical about watching leaves catch the glow of sunlight on a long, homemade string.  For this Thanksgiving craft idea, you’ll first want to lace up your boots and head outdoors for some leaf collecting.  If you’re on the East coast, this is a real treat because you’re bound to find a mirage of vibrant colored leaves from a variety of native trees.  There are a host of books out there that offer in-depth leaf pressing instructions, but you can always do it the old fashioned way and just drop your leaves inside a dictionary or your favorite giant art book, and flatten them there for 24 hours.  You’ll need some decorative ribbon, markers, and a glue gun for this craft.  It’s recommended that for the best preservation of the leaves that you apply 1-2 coats of ModPodge to the sides after they’ve been pressed.

4. Thankfulness Tree
If you’re looking for Thanksgiving craft ideas that feature turkeys, there are hundreds to choose from online.  If you think that turkey crafts are for the birds, then this site has a ton of cute projects without turkeys to get you started.  If your family doesn’t have a ritual for demonstrating thankfulness, the Thankfulness Tree is a wonderful craft idea to get you started.  Not only is this a beautiful fall decoration whenever it’s finished, but the crafters who shared their pictures and instructions for this one all seem to agree that there is something special about stopping to write down the blessings in your life that contributes to their genuineness. So many times we let the business of the season overwhelm us and change our perspective. And this is an amazing idea to help everyone in your whole family take time to relax and focus on what really matters in life.  There are also some fun adaptions of the Thankfulness Tree found here.

5. Pumpkin Seed Corn Craft
If you’re family isn’t too keen on roasting pumpkin seeds to eat, try saving your carved Halloween pumpkin seeds for this fun Thanksgiving craft.  All you need to do is dye your pumpkin seeds using liquid watercolors, and then lay them out on wax paper to dry over night.  The following day, you simply draw or trace a corn cob out of yellow cardstock and then glue the pumpkin seeds onto it. The final stage involves cutting out your husks from brown paper bags and getting them crinkly and then gluing them to the back of the corn.

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Mary Adalbert
Hello! I’m Mary Adalbert, Marketing Project Manager for Bridgeway Academy. As a result of being homeschooled during my middle school and high school years, I am passionate about families finding a perfect fit for each of their children. After high school, I went on to study music and business at college where I found a love for helping kids use their creativity in music. I still enjoy teaching music to students and integrate their learning style as we work through lessons at their own pace. In my free time I love playing sports with my husband, spending time with our family, and playing music. And most of all, I love seeing how God works through each and every situation.
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