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When in school, kids usually spend some of their art classes making holiday kid’s crafts projects, with the help of their teachers. Nevertheless, there’s always room for a few more unique Thanksgiving decorations around the house, don’t you think?! So, on a rainy, blustery fall Saturday, why not let your kids have some fun and get creative with some simple and inexpensive materials, creating a few more treasured holiday decorations for your home?

Here are 3 Thanksgiving kid’s crafts which are simple, fun to make and keep the kids happily occupied for an afternoon…

Thanksgiving wreaths:

This craft definitely allows plent of room for imaginations. You can buy raffia or straw wreath forms at your local craft store and they make a nice base for the Thanksgiving theme. The neutral color of these forms will accommodate all the traditional fall colors.

First of all, have your kids collect a variety of brightly colored fall leaves. Then lay the leaves out on some newspaper and spray them with a clear acrylic coating to preserve them. When the leaves are completely dry, then turn them over and spray them again on the other side. The acrylic spray will actuallly seal out the air so that the leaves will still retain their bright colors for years to come.

You’ll be amazed at the number of “look what I found” objects right in your own back yard! With a little glue from a hot glue gun to attach these treasures and a bow-tied ribbon, you’ll then have a front door wreath that your kids will be proud to hang for all your guests to see.

Thanksgiving Play-Dough Figurines:

Kids love to make things out of Play-Dough(TM). All you have to do is to ask them to make some small figurines of anything associated with Thanksgiving. Suggestions could be…pumpkins, Pilgrims, gourds, a miniature Mayflower ship or Native American figurines. Just give them a big container of Play-Dough(TM) and sit back and wait and see what an interesting assortment they put together.

You might find anything from a turkey to a loaf of bread and who knows what else! Then let their creations dry overnight and then next day hand out some paintbrushes and a set of small jars of acrylic paint so they can decorate them whatever way they want. Then when it’s time to set the table for Thanksgiving dinner, let your kids arrange them in front of each place setting. By adding a small mini mirror under each group makes each stand out beautifully.

Paper Mache Fruit Bowl:

The final craft is making a paper mache fruit bowl – this one is a little messy, as kid’s Thanksgiving crafts go, but cleanup is easy enough and your kids end up with a stunning centerpiece for the dinner table. This one takes a bit longer to do as it requires some drying time between the layers, to make it a sturdy bowl.  So this craft needs to be done over a few days.

Lay out plenty of newspaper on the workspace and you’ll defintely need to supervise this project when younger kids are involved. To make the paper mache paste, all you have to do is mix together 1 part flour to 2 parts water.

You want it to be the consistency of a thick glue, but on the other hand, you also want it to be runny and not thick like paste. Add more water or flour as you feel is necessary. Mix well to remove any lumps.

Next, you’ll need a lightly oiled plastic bowl, turned face downwards. Tear newspaper into strips. Dip one piece of newspaper at a time into the prepared paper mache paste.  Hold the newspaper strip over the paste bowl and run it through your fingers to squeeze off any excess paste.  Then stick the newspaper strip over the plastic bowl, smoothing it down with your fingers.  Get your kids to completely cover the bowl with a layer of newspaper strips. The strips should all be over-lapping.  Once the paper mache has dried, it will easily slip off the bowl (Ideally, it’s best to do 3 layers of newspaper strips, allowing the project to dry 24 hours between each layer).

With a pair of sharp scissors, you can remove any excess paper around the rim to give it a more even look. Next, bring out those acrylic paints again! When the bowl is decorated enough to your kid’s satisfaction, then seal their artwork with a couple of coats of clear acrylic spray. Then fill the bowl with fruit – Beautiful!

All 3 of these Thanksgiving kid’s crafts help to spark those creative juices and their imaginations, build fond memories, beautify your home and make a fun, rainy afternoon activity.

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DLTK’s Give Thanks Turkey Paper Craft. This one is absolutely adorable. Print-and-fold, color or black and white. From DLTK’s Holiday Crafts for Kids: “This is a fun craft to do with the entire extended family.

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This is an edible Thanksgiving craft as long as you don’t let it sit out too long before replacing the lollipops. Nonetheless, it’s great for kids to help out with.

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The holiday of Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to teach your kids not only American history, but also life’s lessons about thankfulness, giving, tolerance and humility that will serve them well for the remainder of their lives.

A great way to achieve this is to search for Thanksgiving costumes for your kids and let them play out the roles of the Pilgrims and the native Indians who saved them that first, harsh and brutal winter in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although there were earlier documented “Thanksgivings”, the holiday itself has its roots in the harvest festivals of fall – the concept we are familiar of today, of a specific American Thanksgiving feast, came from the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation in 1621.

The first pastor of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford, wrote in his memoir Of the Plymouth Plantation…

“They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”

There’s an idea for a Thanksgiving costume – you could dress up as William Bradford, the Pilgrims‘ pastor, and read from a book about that famous winter. Dressing up in a Pilgrim costume would fit really well into the theme of the Thanksgiving feast.

The other important part to the history of Thanksgiving in America, is the role of Squanto, the Patuxent Indian lived with the Wampanoag Indians, and who taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and was an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned to speak English as a slave in Europe). Thanksgiving costumes that represent Squanto, or are native Indian themed costumes, are easy to find online or in stores.

And, if none of that suits you, there’s always the most traditional of Thanksgiving costumes, the big turkey costume! Go that extra mile this year, beyond the lavish turkey dinner, the colorful Thanksgiving decorations, and dress up in Thanksgiving costumes, it will help to remind everyone the origins of one of our treasured and important holidays.

Affiliate Disclosure: It is advisable to assume that any mention of a product or service on this website is made because there exist, unless otherwise stated, a material connection between the product or service owners and this website and should you make a purchase of a product or service described here the owner of this website may be compensated.  To learn more, please click here.

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