5 Unique Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

You'll Need

It's the end of November, and your kid comes home from school eager to show you what he made that day. You open the backpack and see yet another paper turkey. If you're like the average American mom, you'll repeat this Thanksgiving scenario year after year. When it's time to do your own Thanksgiving crafts, move beyond the turkey. Here are five craft ideas that will help your kids show their thanks without making another toilet paper roll handprint turkey.

Thankfulness Tree

Cut two tree trunk shapes out of brown foam. Cut a slot in them so you can fit them together to stand on their own. Cut leaves out of foam or stiff cardstock in red, orange, yellow and green. Have your entire family work together to write things they are thankful for, and glue or tape them to the tree. See if you can fill the entire tree with leaves by the end of Thanksgiving night. Thanks to More4Kids.info for the tip!

Design the Holiday Card

Families often take their holiday card picture at Thanksgiving, when the entire family is together. Instead of just lining up and snapping the picture, let the kids get involved. Have them decide when the picture should be taken, what background would be best and how everyone should stand. Then, visit an online card printer like Minted, and allow the kids to help choose and design a custom holiday card. This digital craft activity will keep everyone engaged after the big meal before they sit down to watch the game. It could become a tradition your kids look forward to year after year.

Fall Napkin Rings

If your family's hosting a fancy dinner, enlist the kids to help make decorative napkin rings. One simple but festive idea, with help from Spoonful, is to make them look like Indian corn. Gather buttons in red, brown, orange and white. Then, cut a 4- by 5 1/2-inch piece of felt and glue 12 craft sticks side by side to one end of it. Allow it to dry, and roll the felt into a circle--craft stick side out. Then glue it. Allow to dry again and then have your child to glue the buttons to the craft sticks. Put a fabric napkin inside and it'll look like an ear of Indian corn.

Woven Placemats

The table will look festive with woven placemats. Use a sheet of brown craft foam for the placement. Cut one-inch slits at even intervals into the foam. Then, cut one-inch strips of orange, green, yellow and red foam. Weave these strips in and out of the slits you cut in the brown foam, and you'll have a festive placemat to enjoy! Shout out to Mindbites blog for the idea!

Stained Glass Window Art

Cut the silhouette of leaves out of two pieces of black construction paper, cutting them at the same time so they match. Shave red, orange, yellow and brown crayons and place them between two pieces of wax paper. Melt the crayons with an iron. Then, cut the wax paper so it will fit between the pieces of construction paper. Glue it in place, and hang the final product from a window. It will look like a beautiful piece of stained glass.

 

Image: Wikimedia.org