10 Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids {Guest Post}

If you're here looking for Much Ado About Monday, we'd like to let you know that it's taking a holiday break this week. Be sure to stop by next Sunday night to share all of your newest projects, recipes and ideas with us! Enjoy  Thanksgiving with your families! And now, we'd like to introduce Kristen from The Frugal Girl to you all. She has rounded up a great assortment of Thanksgiving crafts that the kids would love to create this week. We love all of these ideas, especially the Pinecone turkeys! Be sure to check them all out. :)

The holidays, they are nearly upon us. Thoughts of spending and busyness and stress probably flood your mind at the thought, especially when you consider the end-of-December holidays.

Here’s something to remember, though: research shows experiences are more happiness-inducing than material goods.

So, instead of running around like a crazy person, buying, buying, buying, why not carve out some time to spend with the small people you love the most? And what better way to do that than to craft something up together?

Though the December holidays are more traditionally associated with crafting, there are lots of fun Thanksgiving themed crafts you can do.  Plus, many of them will encourage your children to be grateful for what they have, and hey, any time you can combine fun and character-building, it's a win-win!

1. Thanksgiving Turkey Countdown

Using a paper plate and construction paper, you can make a cute turkey to help kids count down to Thanksgiving.

Tackle this one right away so that you can enjoy the countdown for a week or two (Thanksgiving is late this year, so you still have time!)

2. Turkey Cookies

If flour and baking sheets terrify you, never fear.  These adorable turkey cookies require no mixing or baking...you just need Oreos, peanut butter cups, candy corn, malted milk balls, and some frosting.  Full directions are available at The Dating Divas.

3. Turkey Cupcakes

If you're a little more comfy with the idea of baking, perhaps turkey cupcakes would be more your style.  Check out these cute turkey cupcakes, made with Oreos, peanut butter cookies, and candy corn.

4. Thankful Tree

To help kids get into the thankful mindset before the actual holiday arrives, make a thankful tree.  Gather up some branches (spray paint them if you like), place them in a vase, and cut out leaf shapes from construction paper.  Punch a hole in the top of each leaf so you can hang it from the tree.

Each day, help your child think of something to be thankful for, write it on the leaf, and hang the leaf from the branches (thread or yarn both work.)
 

Here's a good example of a thankful tree.

  5. Pressed Leaf Garland
 

A pressed leaf garland is a really classy and beautiful way to display the things you're thankful for!  Press and dry colorful fall leaves, decorate with metallic pens, and hot glue to black satin ribbon.

6. Send Thankful Postcards

While it's great to help kids think of things they're thankful for, it's even better to teach them to express that thankfulness to others.  So, why not send postcards to people your kids appreciate (teachers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, neighbors)?

You could do this with store-bought postcards, but making them with your kids is easy and will make the note more special.  Here's how to make a basic postcard that your kids can decorate.

 

7. Thankful Bulletin Board

This simple idea comes from Parents.com.  Just divide a bulletin board into sections for each family member, and let everyone pin things that they're thankful for.  Kids can cut out photos from magazines or catalogs, pin photos, draw what they're thankful for, or simply write out their thanks.

 

 

8. Pinecone Turkeys

If you live in an area with pine trees, pick up some pinecones and make some turkeys.

You can use pipe cleaners, tissue paper, leaves, or feathers to make the turkey's tail, and you'll need some googly eyes as well.  Here's a great roundup of different pinecone turkey methods.

Depending on what you use to decorate your turkeys, they may be almost completely compostable, making this a very eco-friendly craft.

9. Turkey Mosaic

For a fun, slightly messy, but almost free craft, trace children's hands on paper plates, and glue on dried beans, popcorn, pretzels, pasta and rice to make a decorated turkey.  Here's an example of what this could look like.

When Thanksgiving is over, you can simply compost the masterpiece.

(Here's an adorable variation on the hand-as-turkey theme, using paint instead of edibles.)

10. Fall Placemats

You could use these for your big dinner, but there's no reason you'd have to wait until then to enjoy them.  You can decorate cork placemats, use leaves to make prints on paper, or place leaves between sheets of wax paper and melt them together.

Give some or all of these projects a try with your kids.  Your kids will produce something beautiful and learn to practice the art of thankfulness, but even more importantly, as you spend time with your kids, you'll be giving them the gift of your presence.

Kristen, Blogger at The Frugal Girl

Kristen is an east coast wife, mom, and blogger behind The Frugal Girl. In an effort to inspire others to live frugally, Kristen contributes to the CareOne Debt Relief Services blog, a community that provides debt consolidation and money-saving advice.

How great are these crafts?? I know that all of our kids would have a blast creating these on their Thanksgiving break. Thanks again to Kristen for providing us with this great guest post! :)