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When family and friends gather it’s always fun to have some special festive decorations, but who has time or money to shop for something you will only use once a year? Luckily, many craft projects will keep your kids busy, and result in beautiful (and adorable) holiday décor.
Felt turkey finger puppets
These simple and sweet finger puppets will keep them busy and have them smiling. Parents or older kids might need to help cut out some of the smaller parts. If you don’t want to mess around with a needle and thread, a touch of fabric glue will work just as well. Head to PBS Kids for the details.
Pinecone turkey
This cute little gobbler featured on Amanda’s Parties to Go is both useful and decorative as a Thanksgiving kids’ table topper. If you’re hoping to recreate this sweet little guy for this year’s festive feast, be sure to check out Amanda’s full post for free template downloads and directions on keeping your Crayolas in place. As a bonus, Amanda offers a handful of additional free printables for pilgrim boats, coloring pages, ship sails and other cheerful goodies for plenty of holiday adornments.
Mini turkey pumpkins
Do you have pumpkins lying around after Halloween? If so, grab them and some paints and you’ll soon have an adorable center piece for your Thanksgiving table. Aimee at Crazy Craft Lady has all the details for making these little gourds into cute little birds. Tip: If you don’t want to get out all the paints, markers can draw a cute turkey face too.
Easy handprint Thanksgiving napkins
There is something so sweet about a little tiny handprint. This simple project will not only make your table look festive, but will send each dinner guest home with a little memento. You can do this project each year, watching that little hand get bigger and bigger. Jackie at I Heart Arts ’n Crafts has all the details you need.
Salad-spun turkey
Sometimes kitchen utensils can turn out to be the most entertaining (and versatile!) toys of them all — and that’s exactly why we love this vibrant, salad-spun turkey featured on Dilly-Dali Art! To make your own multicolored feathered friends, simply pull out your family’s trusty salad spinner, along with some leftover toilet paper tubes and paper plates (and don’t forget the googly eyes!). Put the plates in the spinner, add a couple dabs of colorful paint, and have your tots spin their way to creating this year’s bright and beautiful Thanksgiving decorations. Overall, a great project for the littles and one that’s sure to bring joy to everyone seated at this year’s table!
DIY turkey leg
These oversized turkey legs are sure to earn plenty of giggles from this year’s dinner guests! You can set a pile on a platter in the middle of the table, or write each guest’s name on a leg and set them out on the dinner plates as a fun place marker.
Pass a platter of these around after the main meal with a fun dessert stuffed inside (these are filled with popcorn) or pass them around during your next movie night. Either way, these are much more fun that your average bag of snacks! A Thrifty Mom has all the details.
Keepsake bags
Though Mom Stacy of Share and Remember made these fun little Thanksgiving keepsake bags with her students, we also think that this is a fantastic idea for creating personalized family place mats at home with your littlest pilgrims. Really, we couldn’t agree more with Stacy when she says, “Thanksgiving just isn’t Thanksgiving without a handprint turkey!”
Napkin leaf tags
Mom Jessica of Two Shades of Pink shares these neat DIY autumn leaf napkin tags that she made with her daughters, and we love that these can work great for both fall decorative dining décor or take-home gifts for guests! Armed with some cookie cutters, oven-bake modeling clay and craft paint, Jessica says that this project was super easy for her and her little gals, and that the tags looked fantastic once they were complete.
Origami mini turkey
If you hail from the “less is more” camp, these cool origami mini turkeys featured on Mombrite are sure to win you over. These cute little birdies are the perfect Thanksgiving project for having big kids help little kids.
If your kids get bitten by the origami bug, head over to Gathering Beauty for 25 origami Thanksgiving crafts. You can decorate your table (or whole house) with paper turkeys, corn, leaves and more!
Acorn place cards
A fantastic take on a fall favorite, these acorn place cards featured on Lily Bee Design are sure to bring a nice dash of color to this year’s family holiday dinner. With the help of her creative mini crafter, Mom Cindy says that these simple yet lovely place cards not only turned out exactly as she’d hoped, but that they only took her one hour to complete! See her full post for the scoop on the tools and materials she used.
Mini paper pumpkins
Even when Halloween is over, pumpkins and gourds are still all the rage while celebrating the time of harvest — and that’s exactly why we love these quick and easy mini pumpkins included on Craftaholics Anonymous. (Plus, who can resist a decorative craft that can be used for two holidays in a row?) To make your own mini pumpkin pleasers, you’ll only need to have orange, green and brown cardstock on hand, along with a hole punch, glue and a pen. This is an excellent decorative table idea for small hands to make, and one that will last throughout the fall.
Thankful tree
This Thanksgiving tree featured on One More Moore is a great holiday project for the whole family to get in on. To make your own, simply find a broken tree branch in your neighborhood and secure it in a vase or container. Now for the fun part — sit down with your kids and make the tree’s colorful leaves, while discussing all of the things that each of you are thankful for, and attach them to the branches. Not only is this craft a great way for everyone to reflect on the people and things they love most, but it’s also one that is sure to get plenty of “oohs and ahs” from dinner guests.
Thankful leaf place settings
If you’re hoping to draw from your own backyard bounty to create a gorgeous Thanksgiving table spread, don’t miss out on Make and Takes’ fun tutorial for drawing on fall leaves. Providing a great opportunity for a bundled-up family fall walk, this activity is a perfect pick for keepin’ it simple yet beautiful this Thanksgiving. Once your leaves are dried and pressed, take a fancy silver or gold pen and write out your guests’ names, along with any thankful words you’d love to have adorn this year’s table. Overall, this is one quick and easy DIY idea that everyone in the family can enjoy!
Pinecone owls
In need of a couple fall critters to even out this year’s Thanksgiving decorations? These mini pinecone owls featured on Remade Simple are sure to brighten up your table with plenty of creative cuteness! A perfect chance to use up any extra Halloween candy corn you have around the house, these sweet little owls are easily made with pinecones, acorns, craft paint, candy and a little bit of glue to hold it all together. Who can resist these teeny tiny owls?
A-maize-ing cardboard corn
Riffing off another fall favorite harvest feature, the DIY corn on the cobs (or, maize cobs) included on Prairie Mother are a fantastic addition to your family’s holiday table. Whether you’re using them as simple decorations or as colorful napkin rings for guests, these mini corn cobs are fun for your little niblets to make and can be created in just an afternoon. Grab bubble wrap, paint, construction paper and leftover cardboard tubes to whip these up — easy!
More crafting fun:
Editor’s note: This article was originally published several years ago and was updated most recently in October 2024 by associate editor Kari Hanson. New crafts and images were added.
