5 Kid Crafts for Thanksgiving

There are two things most kids love- holidays and crafts! These Thanksgiving crafts are easy and fun to make, and help channel all their excitement and keep their hands busy while the turkey is cooking.

Apple Turkeys

Materials and Supplies:
1 apple
8 toothpicks
White paper
Pencil
Crayons, markers or colored pencils
Scotch Tape
glue stick

Fold the white piece of paper in half. Draw two wings, a fanned-out tail, and profile of a turkey's neck and head. Cut the pieces out so you have two of each. The insides of the pieces are the backs (the parts that are touching). The outside of these pieces when they are put together are the fronts.

Let the children color and decorate the fronts of the turkey parts. On the back side of one of each of the part pairs, tape two toothpicks so that they are sticking out at the place that part would attach to the turkey's body.

Place the backs of the parts together and glue them with the glue stick. The toothpicks should be sticking out.

Insert the pieces into the apple, the turkey's "body," using the toothpicks. Put the head in the front, the tail in the back, and the two wings on the side. These little guys make cute table decorations.

Pilgrim and Indian Napkin Rings

Materials and supplies:
Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
Black construction paper
White construction paper
Brown construction paper
Orange or yellow construction paper
Glue or scotch tape

Cut paper towel or toilet paper rolls into two inch tubes. Cover each tube with slightly bigger yellow or orange paper strips, fastening it on with tape or glue. Tuck the edges of the paper over and glue or tape it to the inside of the tube.

Cut out little pilgrim hat shapes from the black construction paper. Put a narrow white strip across over the "brim" of the hat. Glue it onto the napkin holder. For Indian head dress, cut a ½" strip of brown paper and glue it to the bottom edge of the tube, all the way around. Cut out 2" feather and allow the children to color the feather as they like. Glue it on to the tube.

Roll the napkins and place them inside the tubes. When setting the table, lay a napkin in a holder on each plate.

"Stained-Glass" Turkey Hand Prints

Materials and Supplies:
Black construction paper
Colorful vellum paper (available at craft stores in the scrapbooking section)
White crayon
Black Sharpie marker
Glue stick

Let the child place her hand on the center of the black paper with her fingers spread apart. Trace her hand with a white crayon. Cut out the hand print.

Glue a piece of vellum to the back of the paper. Vellum is translucent, so when you look from the front, the light will shine through the hand print. Use the white crayon to draw legs and a beak coming out of the thumb. With the Sharpie, make features such as eyes, indication of wings, or feather marks.

Hang in the window for a stained-glass look.

Autumn Leaf Place Cards

Materials and Supplies:
Thin cardboard
Leaf templates (approximately 4" wide)
Cardstock papers in red, yellow, orange, or brown (harvest colors)
Scissors
Glue

Cut cardboard into 4" by 3" strips. Fold them over once and crease. They should stand up like a little easel.

Give children leaf templates. They can trace the templates onto the colored paper and cut out the leaf shapes. Write the names of each guest on the front of the leaf. Glue the leaf to the cardboard easel to hold it up.

Vegetable Prints Place Mats

Materials and Supplies:
Spare vegetables from the kitchen with distinguishing shapes
Poster paints in assorted colors
Paint brushes
8X10 sheets of paper
Knife (for adults to handle)
Forks
Clear contact paper or laminator

Steal some vegetables or fruits from the kitchen. Ones that work well are: carrots, mushrooms, apples, broccoli spears, yams, potatoes, parsnips, onions, and peppers. You will only need one kind of each.

Have an adult cut the vegetables in half, length-wise, so that the vegetable maintains it's shape with one flat side. Children can paint the flat side and press the flat side onto the paper. Show them how to do this without wiggling the vegetable around, and to pick it up without smearing. If the vegetable is hard to grasp, stick a fork in the back of it to use as a "handle." Have them make as many prints as they want on one piece of paper.

When the paint dries, laminate the paper, or use clear contact paper. These can be used as place mats at your Thanksgiving table.