Simple and Memorable Thanksgiving Craft Keepsakes

The Thanksgiving holiday lends itself well to holiday crafts. Whether you're planning a Thanksgiving craft for you and your child at home, for a playgroup, or for your class, these kid-friendly, memorable activities won't disappoint this holiday season.

Handy Turkeys

One of the quickest and easiest Thanksgiving crafts, and a favorite from year to year, is the handy turkey. The base of the turkey is your hand, the fingers are the feathers, and the thumb is the head. Simply trace your hand or your child's hand, draw the face on the thumb, add two stick feet underneath, and let the kids color this turkey to their heart's content. Add to the activity by gluing on wiggly eyes, using pipe cleaners for legs, or cutting out additional feathers for your turkey from construction paper and pasting them on to add something extra. However, as it is, this simple Thanksgiving craft is fun for kids, requires little mess, and allows moms and dads to save their child's handprint, too!

Pilgrim Hats & Indian Headdresses

Another classic Thanksgiving crafts, making Pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses is a fun activity children can enjoy up until Thanksgiving Day. In fact, this craft can serve multiple purposes, and kids can wear their hats to dinner, or use them as place cards for guests around the dinner table. You'll need construction paper in various colors, glue, a stapler, and scissors for this activity, and younger children should be sure to get an adult to help. An Indian Headdress requires a long brown strip of construction paper, stapled just the right size to fit around the child's head. Then, using different colored pieces of construction paper, create feathers which will be cut out and pasted along the inside of the headband. For the Pilgrim Hat, use black construction paper for the headband, cut out a large black rectangle for the body of the hat, and use yellow paper or a white crayon to make a buckle.

Thankful Poems

This writing activity can be easily adapted to children of all ages and abilities. Simply ask kids what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Older children can write a poem, which can be typed up on the computer and printed and framed as a gift for Mom and Dad. Younger children can dictate their thanks to teachers or parents, and draw a picture to go along with their work. Though it may seem simple, activities such as this are much more likely to make it into a memory box than large, elaborate crafts that just show how children can follow directions.

With these simple Thanksgiving crafts you end the day with practical and memorable keepsakes for parents and children this holiday season.