Garland of Gratitude
We loved this idea for a gratitude garland from The High Heeled Mama. Such a simple idea, yet so beautiful!
To make your own family gratitude garland, find colorful construction paper and cut them into traditional autumn or Thanksgiving shapes. These could be turkeys, leaves (as shown), snow men, Pilgrim hats, trees and more. Next, have your family write down (or color) some of the things that they are grateful for on the shapes and attach them to a pretty bow or plastic ribbon to hang from your mantle. Overall, an easy peasy project that is sure to bring plenty of joy to your family this season!
Thanksgiving Queens
If you've got some autumn queens presiding in your home, they will love making these crowns out of fall leaves found on a family "leaf hunt" in the backyard or nearby park.
Twig and Toadstool includes a fantastic pictorial on how to successfully construct these autumn maple leaf crowns for you and your little ones. You could even make a crown for each family member attending Thanksgiving dinner this year!
Thankful for Sweets
We can't get enough of these festive Thanksgiving sugar cookies shown on Amanda's Cookin' -- especially the 'Give Thanks' cookies (on her site) -- so fantastic!
Including the time-tested recipes from fellow foodie bloggers that she used to make these fun cookies, Amanda shares some great tips and tricks that she came across while adding all of the intricate details to her turkey tails, multicolored leaves and more. Love all of those bright fall colors!
Thankful Thinking
No Time for Flash Cards has an excellent post with easy how-to instructions on creating a homemade family thankful box.
Whether you choose to keep your ideas a secret until the big family meal or read them as you go, this thankful box is a great pre-Thanksgiving dinner activity for all ages. And one that can certainly be shared around the table once your family has all sat down to celebrate this year's holiday feast!
A-maize-ing Jewelry
In terms of homemade jewelry, it does not get much better than GardenMama's DIY native corn necklace. Most likely this is an activity that you'll want to share with older kids -- due to pointy needles -- but also one that we're sure you'll be wanting to wear full time!
GardenMama includes a great walk-through on how to make these simple, all-natural necklaces -- and not to mention some absolutely gorgeous photography! Check out the full post for more info.
A Holiday Feast for the Birds
Small Wonders has a super neat -- and easy! -- idea for making pine cone bird feeders this holiday season. Not only will you be giving the birds a hand during a time of year when food is more scarce, but your little ones will love treating their neighborhood feathered friends to a Thanksgiving meal of their very own.
The birdseed will last for awhile, so you'll be able to watch them from the window as they peck away at their special treat for days! This activity also provides an excellent opportunity for the whole family to learn more about the birds that inhabit your community.
Magical Turkeys
4 Crazy Kings features this crafty-fun holiday project for making your own turkey out of model magic clay.
And whether you're making them as favors for guests, decorations or possibly place holders at this year's Thanksgiving table, this is definitely one holiday activity that will be fun and easy for even the youngest of children. (We love that Mama King also includes that she used a gummy Life Saver as a waddle -- genius!)
A Turkey with a Message
This festive idea from Kaboose for a magnetic turkey note holder is too cool!
Pin it to your front door with a "Welcome" sign as shown, keep it on your fridge for your grocery list or give it away as a holiday gift -- no matter what you choose to do with your DIY holiday note holder we're positive that this is one cute turkey that everyone will stop to check out! Check out the site for the full scoop on what you'll need to get started.
Cereal Boxes Turned Turkeys
We think that this Thanksgiving craft activity, hands down, has got to be one of our favorites for this year! Plumpudding's recycled cereal box turkeys are just so absolutely genius!
Instead of tossing your old cereal boxes in the recycling bin next time, consider transforming them into these crafty-cool turkeys instead! Great for all ages, this Thanksgiving craft activity doesn't need to be limited to turkeys on a stick; you could also make them on magnets, or as placeholders for this year's holiday dinner. We must admit -- never before have we been so excited about used cereal boxes!
Homemade for the Holidays
Courtney Russel's homemade "happy apple mats" on BKids Crafts are a great activity for children and parents to work on in the pre-Thanksgiving weeks leading up to the family dinner.
Mama Courtney shows her family's placemats with an apple, but the options are truly endless for what you else you can stencil onto to these DIY "happy mats." You could even stencil each family member's name, but be careful -- as Russel warns, "Once you start you'll be stenciling every thing in sight." Check out Courtney Russel's super-cool crafty blog Two Straight Lines while you're at it, you won't be disappointed!
Eco-friendly Holiday Fun
Another clever DIY Thanksgiving idea comes from our friends over at Inhabitots for these eco-friendly pasta-rific place cards.
A super simple project for younger children and your tots will love spelling out each family member's name with the colorful noodles! This idea could also be used throughout the year for birthday cards or invitations -- and all that you'll need to get started is some noodles, glue and paper.
A Colorful Thanksgiving Meal
We love Martha Stewart's idea for a kid-friendly Thanksgiving dinner table -- including the extra detail of fringes at the bottom!
No need to worry about gravy spills on this year's Thanksgiving table cloth -- simply put down a durable paper to cover the table and let your tots go wild with coloring supplies. Martha recommends printing out a turkey template (printable version featured on her site) or using stencils to outline traditional Thanksgiving symbols that your little ones can color on the table 'cloth' while they anxiously wait for dinner to be served. And once you're finished, simply recycle or -- depending on the amount of food splished and splashed -- compost your colorful, eco-friendly table cover!
Crayola Cool
And to go hand in hand with your Thanksgiving paper table cloth, consider No Fuss Fabulous' idea for adding in some Crayola crayons so that your little ones will be prepared!
These ladies recommend a possible game of having the children find their seats at the table by searching for a napkin with their favorite color tied to it. However, we'd also suggest keeping a mason jar or bowl full of extra crayons on the table as a centerpiece to avoid and arguments between your little artists. And really, as No Fuss Fabulous says, "Every mom knows that one or two crayons definitely do not cut it!"
