Crafts
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What are Some Good Thanksgiving Crafts?

S. Mithra
S. Mithra

Thanksgiving crafts can be a great way to bring your family together and decorate your home for autumn. Setting some time aside to consider falling leaves, harvest foods, wild turkeys, Pilgrims, and Native Americans will allow you to enjoy the holiday of cornucopias and feeling grateful. Some craft ideas are simple and safe enough for kids to do alone. Others can be sophisticated and gorgeous, appealing more to adults.

A pine cone turkey centerpiece is a classic children's Thanksgiving craft. Easy and inexpensive, this project results in a personalized and striking decoration. Gather a pine cone that has opened slightly, an acorn or walnut, and construction paper. Have your child trace her hand on yellow, orange, red, and brown construction paper five to seven times. She can probably cut out the shapes herself. Stick these "feathers" near the rear of the pine cone with a daub of glue. With a tiny wattle of red construction paper, and markered eyes, the nut transforms into a turkey head, glued into place with a hot-glue gun. Not only will you have a beautiful centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner, you can save the feathers as a reminder of the size of your child's hands that year.

Apples, which start to ripen in the autumn, are often incorporated into Thanksgiving crafts.
Apples, which start to ripen in the autumn, are often incorporated into Thanksgiving crafts.

Another Thanksgiving craft creates autumnal tea light candle holders out of gourds and fruit. These can line a mantle or cluster on a table. Collect squashes, fruits, and gourds you find appealing. Best are those of vibrant colors and burnished textures, such as apples, acorn squash, miniature pumpkins, or ornamental gourds that balance upright. Using a tea light as a stencil, draw a rough circle at the top of each vegetable. Then carve a cylinder down the center to make a space for the candle. Lit tea lights will make the gourds glow beautifully. Even fancier, the apples and small pumpkins will float in a large bowl of water or barrel, bringing romantic light outdoors as well.

A child can use walnuts to make a three dimensional illustration as part of a Thanksgiving craft project.
A child can use walnuts to make a three dimensional illustration as part of a Thanksgiving craft project.

Writing down things for which we are thankful, in a creative way, keeps the spirit of Thanksgiving alive. Collect leaves of different shapes and sizes, preferably ones not so dry they are crumbling, to use as stamps. Mix acrylic paints in any color family, such as golden leaf colors or metallic shades. Stiff paper, like tag board, might be easier for youngsters to handle, but adults can use tissue, mulberry, or other craft paper. Brush leaves with paint on their veiny side and firmly press them against the paper to get all the texture. These leaf cards can be distributed for everyone to write some sentiments on why they are thankful this holiday season. You can then create a garland, a wreath, or tack the leaves on a bulletin board to display your thanks this Thanksgiving.

Discussion Comments

amypollick

@latte31: I'm always all for people giving to folks in convalescent homes. Many of these people are ignored all the time, but it's especially tough for them at the holidays. It's very sad.

Anyway, placemats are a great idea, or maybe make small construction paper Pilgrim hats and put a pipe cleaner handle on them and put small lotion tubes or socks or similar inside and give them to the residents.

cupcake15

Latte31- I love that idea. Another thing that worked really well in my son’s class is a gratitude tree.

In the gratitude tree all of the kids in the classroom had to decorate leaves that were later added to the tree.

They had to state what it was that they were grateful for. I know another class made beautiful cards and they sent them to the troopers.

I think that any project that involves the true meaning of Thanksgiving is really important because if children learn the lessons of gratitude when they are young they will always give back to others and lead happier lives as a result.

latte31

There are a lot of fun Thanksgiving crafts. Easy preschool Thanksgiving crafts include making turkeys and placemats.

Create a turkey by using a pinecone and construction paper, glue, and a pair of craft eyes with a ball of fuzz.

You can glue the ball of fuzz on the top of the pinecone and then glue on the eyes. Lastly, you can cut out oval shaped feathers from colored construction paper and then glue them toward the back of the pinecone.

Another great Thanksgiving Day crafts could be to make a placemat. The placemat could contain a religious verse and could be decorated and then delivered to a shelter for the homeless, so they could use the placemats for their Thanksgiving dinner.

The placemats could also be delivered to a convalescent home because often many of these elderly residents are often ignored during the holidays and something like this would mean a lot to them.

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    • Apples, which start to ripen in the autumn, are often incorporated into Thanksgiving crafts.
      By: denphumi
      Apples, which start to ripen in the autumn, are often incorporated into Thanksgiving crafts.
    • A child can use walnuts to make a three dimensional illustration as part of a Thanksgiving craft project.
      By: margo555
      A child can use walnuts to make a three dimensional illustration as part of a Thanksgiving craft project.
    • Pipe cleaners come in a variety of colors and can be used in many crafts.
      By: Stephanie Connell
      Pipe cleaners come in a variety of colors and can be used in many crafts.
    • Construction paper can be used to make feathers for pine cone turkeys.
      By: eden04
      Construction paper can be used to make feathers for pine cone turkeys.
    • Thanksgiving crafts may incorporate yarn.
      By: adam36
      Thanksgiving crafts may incorporate yarn.
    • Making paper turkeys is a popular Thanksgiving craft.
      By: Monkey Business
      Making paper turkeys is a popular Thanksgiving craft.
    • Autumn leaves can be used as stamps for card making.
      By: veneratio
      Autumn leaves can be used as stamps for card making.