Child Friendly Fun for Thanksgiving

While all the adults are scurrying around trying to get everything prepared and perfect, the children sit and wait wondering what all the fuss is about. This Thanksgiving let the kids help out, assign them some of these jobs and fun games to accomplish while they are waiting for the Thanksgiving meal.

Any recipe that takes a lot of stirring to accomplish should be handed off to the children. Recipes like sweet potato casserole or stuffing are perfect for them to stir to perfection. Here's a delightful recipe almost any child can make with very little supervision:

Cranberry Relish

Ingredients: 1 Package of fresh cranberries (12 ounces); 1 cut up Apple with the peel (remove the stems and seeds please!); 1 navel orange, keep the peel remove the stem ends; and one half cup of sugar.

Place all your fruit into a food processor and chop them all together. Next mix the fruit with the sugar and store in the refrigerator until it's time for dinner.

Children are great with ideas about how to arrange and decorate, so let them do it! Put all your decorations in the living room and let the children make the decisions about the decorating. Have them run outside and collect all the different colorful leaves and flowers for more decorations inside.

Put a basket or bowl on the table and allow the children to fill it with all their favorite fruits and vegetables for a beautiful centerpiece.

The children should have no problem getting the table together for your guests. Have the children make the seating arrangement. They can make little place cards for each guest from construction paper. Use stickers and markers to decorate them and your guests will find these markers simply precious and well thought out! It's the thought that counts most right?

Don't forget to add in some Thanksgiving family fun. It is important that you do something as a family and don't fret all day around the stove. Get everyone outside for some family touch football, volleyball, street hockey, badminton or croquet.

Another fine idea that will involve everyone, including the guests, is making crafty picture frames. Supervise the making of beautifully decorated picture frames. Take a photo of the entire group sometime during the day and print it out on your photo printer. Now put your new photo inside the holiday frame and send them home with each of your guests.