Add some homemade love to the holidays!
As we prepare to gather together this month, there are tons of fun things that we can do to make Thanksgiving even more festive. Kids will love having a craft project to distract them from all of the excitement, and the personal touches that you can only find in homemade decorations will let all your guests know that they’re special. And as a bonus, whether it’s kids’ crafts to decorations to tablescapes, this list of beautiful Thanksgiving crafts all include natural materials:
1. cinnamon dough garland. This cinnamon dough garland project can be made for all the autumn and winter holidays, so when Thanksgiving is over, make another one for Christmas!
2. corn grinding. Keep the kids busy with this activity that recreates what it’s like to grind corn into meal. Who can make the most?
3. felt pumpkin pie. Do you love felt food? Here’s the way to use natural wool felt to make everyone’s favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast. If you prefer crafting with recycled materials, then substitute Eco-fi felt, which is made from recycled plastic bottles.
4. Gourdo Greenface. Got a pumpkin left over from Halloween? Let the kids spend Thanksgiving morning turning it into a DIY Mr. Potato Head!
5. leaf turkey. Take the kids on an autumn leaf walk, then use your treasures to give a makeover to the typical turkey craft.
6. leaves. Here are some ideas for decorating with the season’s most ubiquitous natural material–leaves!
7. food mosaics. Instead of the paper plates that the tutorial calls for, use the back side of a cereal box or other cardboard as a blank canvas. Alternately, cover a table in butcher paper, set out all the supplies in little bowls, and you’ll have a quiet, fun activity for the entire children’s table.
8. painted pumpkins. These pumpkins are painted in interesting ways that will work well at your Thanksgiving table.
9. pinecone turkey. Although this is a good kid craft, these turkeys look awesome enough that you can get away with making them, yourself, as a Thanksgiving decoration.
10. pumpkin crafts. Did you know that pumpkins are still great decorations even after Halloween? Of course you did!
11. rock turkeys. I don’t know why, but for some reason painting rocks is REALLY fun. And it doesn’t hurt that the turkeys are super cute, too!
12. turkey bread. With this tutorial, you can make a loaf shaped like a turkey OR a cornucopia–fun, festive, and yummy!
13. Wampanoag toss and catch game. My kids played this at Plimoth; you can play it at home!
Got some favorite Thanksgiving crafts from natural materials? Share them with me in the Comments below!
