Thanksgiving Day Craft for Children

One of our favorite craft activities every Thanksgiving is to make a fall wreath. Using common items from around the house we create a place to list a few of things we are thankful. After a few years it's fun to reread past year's wreaths.

To start you will need a paper plate, construction paper in fall colors, scissors, glue, writing utensil. Smaller children may want to color their project.

To make the base of the wreath, cut out the center of the paper plate leaving only the outer ring. You don't have to cut it perfectly, the decorations will cover the edges. Older kids might be able to help with this if you have age appropriate scissors.

Next decide what you want to use to decorate the wreath. We used to do handprints. I traced one and used it as a template to create a bunch more. That was a very slow method. One year I printed leaf shapes onto the construction paper and cut them out. Children as young as preschool can help cut out an oak or maple leaf.

If your child wants to color the leaves for dimension or just to color them, now is the time. Start gluing them onto your paper plate ring. Try not to overlap too much so you have room to write on them, but having fun and the process of learning to glue is more important.

Ask your child to write to tell you what they are thankful for. Fill in as many leaves or handprints as you can.

Finally, don't forget to hang it up proudly for everyone to see.