Thanksgiving, Crafts, and Family Fun

Growing up in my family, any holiday meant doing at least one craft. Year after year, our collection of different projects grew, and the older crafts that my mom displayed around the house would get replaced with new, better ones. Those afternoons making crafts with my brother and sisters meant quality time that quickly became one of my favorite parts of any season.

During the busyness of the holiday season, sometimes a craft afternoon is just what your family needs to slow down, take a breath, and spend some quality time together. This Thanksgiving, do an extension of art class and spend a few hours making holiday-themed crafts with your kids. Not only are they lots of fun, but they also help hone motor skills and get your child’s creative juices flowing!

So make some hot chocolate, boil water for tea, and get out paper, glue sticks, and scissors and spend an afternoon together making memories. Here are a few Thanksgiving crafts to get you started.

Paper Pumpkins

Tired of pumpkins that end up going bad? Make these paper pumpkins that will last all season! All you need is some paper, twine, sticks, and glue and, in a few short minutes, you can have a pumpkin that looks great throughout autumn. Try switching up the size of the pumpkins and the patterns of paper for more variety.

Thankful Tree

Thankfulness is what Thanksgiving is all about. Teach your kids what it means to be grateful by making a thankful tree! Go outside and collect twigs (the more “tree-like,” the better) and put them in a jar or vase as the base of your tree. Then, have your kids write what they’re thankful for on cut-out leaves and hang them on the “tree”. Make sure to display it in a prominent place so you can always remember the things you are thankful for!

Thankful Pumpkin

You can do something similar with a pumpkin as well. Get a pumpkin (it can be real or fake), grab some markers and write all the blessings you have to be thankful for on the pumpkin! Have your kids contribute with what they are grateful for and then put the pumpkin in your schoolroom, or anywhere it can be easily accessed, so you can add more to it!

Pine Cone Turkeys

How about a craft that requires some exercise for your kids? Making this Pine Cone Turkey can involve a little treasure hunt outside. Bundle your kids up and go look for pine cones in your yard or a park nearby. Collect the biggest and most perfect, then bring them all back home and use colored paper to make feathers for the turkey’s tail. The pine cone serves as its body, and you can add more paper to make the feet and neck. If you collect multiple different sizes of pine cones, you can make a whole flock of them to grace your Thanksgiving table!

Turkey Thank You Card

Writing thank you cards is an excellent skill to teach your kids early on, and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to practice! Make learning to write thank you cards more fun by using finger-paints and paper to make a Turkey Thank You Card. Your kids can then use it to write notes to the special people they are thankful for: grandparents, aunts, uncles, or best friends. Send them out to make a loved one’s Thanksgiving even more special!

Crafts are an easy way to celebrate a holiday as well as bring joy and family time! Thanksgiving is about spending time with the people around you, and what better way than to have fun making things together? Who knows, you might even start a new family tradition!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!