These easy Thanksgiving crafts offer kids an quick way to create a memorable holiday. Projects use simple, common materials like pinecones, fabric, foam, and paper to make table decorations and gifts.
Family Tree Leaf Pins
Make a few blank ones and add names as family members arrive.
What you'll need:
- Silk leaves
- White card stock or construction paper
- Pinking shears or other decorative scissors
- Black marker
- Pin backs
- White craft glue
- Other silk embellishments, such as berries, flowers, wheat, etc (optional)
How to make it:
- Glue 3 leaves together, layering them on top of each other, allowing a little of each to show from underneath the other. Repeat this for however many name tags you would like to make.
- This is an optional step, however, you may add fall flowers to some of the leaves, or berries, wheat, acorns, or any other silk embellishments you choose. Girls will enjoy the flowers whiles tags for boys work well with wheat and acorns.
- Using the pinking shears, cut out rectangles and squares for the name tags. Use your leaf arrangements as a guide for how big they will need to be. Leave enough room to write names on them.
- Glue the leaf arrangements to the front of the paper name tags, overlapping the paper so that there is excess leaf at the top (in the back).
- Glue the pin directly to the back of the leaf arrangement, above the paper. This will allow family members to continue using their name tag as a lapel pin by simply removing the paper name tag when they leave.
Tips:
- Silk leaves are available in packages at local craft stores. Check the floral department for prepackaged leaves that are flat and easy to work with.
- Hot glue can be used for the project and dries a lot faster than craft glue. However, hot glue can be so use caution.
- For a little extra fun, have family members write a little bit of what they are thankful for on the back of their pin, then everyone can read theirs out loud at dinner.
Thanksgiving Place Cards
Give your dinner guests a holiday surprise with these cut Thanksgiving place cards that are a great way to decorate your Thanksgiving table!
What you'll need:
- Paper napkin in fall colors or orange construction paper
- Small paper clips
- Apple, any color
- Almond, with or without the shell
- Peanut in the shell
- One Lifesaver candy
- Two small wiggle eyes
- Yellow construction paper
- Hot glue gun
- White craft glue
- Marker
How to make it:
- Hold the almond point down and use white craft glue to attach eyes on rounded part. Let glue dry.
- Use hot glue gun to glue the ring-shaped hard candy to front of apple. Don't use white craft glue as it will cause the candy to start to liquefy and run down the apple (glue the ring-shaped hard candy on the apple's shoulders).
- With hot glue gun, glue almond to ring-shaped hard candy (covering the hole, point down) and let dry.
- Glue peanut below almond for turkey wattle.
- Unfold napkin so it is approximately 6" x 11", then fold accordion style. If you don't have a napkin, you can use a 6" x 11" piece of construction paper.
- Pull ends of folded napkin together to make a fan. Secure with paper clip at bottom. Sit napkin behind the apple.
- Bend the end of the paper clip and insert into apple.
- Cut a piece of yellow construction paper into a rectangle to make a place card. Write your guest’s name on the place card.
- Use a paper clip to hold place card or glue a toothpick to the back of the card and insert into the top of the apple.