It's the day before Thanksgiving and you are up to your eyeballs in baking and cooking. The kids are out of school early and are underfoot and in the way. This sounds like a problem for CaftMom! CraftMom has scoured the globe (aka Google) for the easiest to do activities to keep little hands busy. Here are her top three picks:
Paper Bag Turkeys
For the smallest hands, try these super cute little turkeys (wow, that turkey in the front sure is special!).
I originally found the idea here. Supplies needed are paper sacks, construction paper in turkey colors, crayons, scissor, glue sticks, and if you've got any googley eyes use them too.
Start by cutting out a bunch of shapes (this is faster than it sounds). Super long rectangles take about 5 seconds to cut. Long triangles are the just rectangles that have been cut in half diagonally. Circles- okay, they are hard to cut, so skip them. If your kids can cut, great! If not, you'll have to do this step first to help them get started, but if you cut a whole stack of papers all at once, it will take you less than two minutes to have a huge pile of feathers ready to go.
Glue the shapes around the edge of the bag. It doesn't matter which direction you glue your feathers on, BUT if you make your turkey so that it is facing up on your lunch bag, you can open the bag and stand your turkey up and make a centerpiece out of it. OR if you make it upside down, you can use it for a puppet. Add a face either with shapes or with color crayons.
I glued my papers on so that the color side was showing, but my five year old put them all white side up so that he could color them himself.
To make this activity last longer, hand your kids an entire stack of bags and construction paper. Tell them that everyone in the family is going to need their very own turkey bag to bring home leftovers.
First Thanksgiving Bracelets
Next up is Thanksgiving story bracelets. You will need at least one reader for this activity. If one of your kids can read GREAT! If not, you'll have to tell the story as they make the craft. I was originally inspired by this website. Supplies you need are a variety of colored beads and either string or pipe cleaners. I didn't have a ready supply of plain colored beads, so I improvised with an assortment of bead remnants from craft projects past.
It goes something like this (I can in no way vouch for the authenticity of this story, I wasn't there.):
Brown Bead- The pilgrims left England in search of religious freedom.
White Bead- They climbed aboard the Mayflower with it's giant white sails.
3 Blue Beads- It was a very long journey across the ocean.
Green Bead- Finally they spotted land.
3 White Beads- The first winter was difficult, long, and filled with snow.
Light Green Bead- At last spring arrived.
Brown Bead- They met the Native Americans who helped them a lot.
At the first Thanksgiving they ate:
Red Bead- Cranberries
Yellow Bead- Corn
Brown Bead- Turkey
Orange Bead- Pumpkin
Once all the beads are on, you tie off the ends to form a bracelet. The kids can wear it all day long and dazzle Grandma and Grandpa with their extensive knowledge of the Thanksgiving holiday. For a simpler version of this craft, along with a poem that tells the story, go here.
Thankful Hands
This last activity is as simple as it gets, but it does require kids who can write. Supplies: colored paper, crayons, and scissors. I copied this idea from here.
Basically you trace a hand, cut out a hand, and then write something you are thankful for on the hand. Was that too easy? Okay, let me slow it down a little... imagine happy family music playing in the background... the smell of pumpkin pie baking in the oven....you lovingly trace your toddler's chubby little hand onto paper, secretly wishing he could stay this small forever... you ask him what he is most grateful for... he smiles up at you and in his perfect toddler lisp he says, "You, Mommy. I wuv you most!" Awww...That was nice! I think my heart grew two sizes just thinking about it!
Once you have a pile of these beautiful little treasures, you can either make a garland out of them, paste them onto a paper tree, or just slap them onto a wall or window somewhere.
Have fun!
Marcia
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