Easy Thanksgiving Crafts
For school-age children, it is fun to make easy Thanksgiving crafts that explore the reason for the season - giving thanks! First, you need various colors of construction paper. Cut out various leaf shapes from the paper. You can find templates for these leaves at www.enchantedlearning.com. Have your child write things on the leaves that they are thankful for. Then cut out the inner upper half of a paper plate to form a half circle. Just below the bottom of the half circle, write the words "I Am Thankful For ..." and then have your child glue the leaves all around the cut-out. Then you can hang the thankful wreath wherever you want to!
Another easy Thanksgiving craft is to make a turkey. What you will need is brown, orange, red, and yellow construction paper, scissors, a marker, a pencil, and some glue. Trace your child's footprint on the brown construction paper. Do not trace their individual toes. Then, from the other colors, trace around their hand with it laid out and fingers slightly splayed. Make at least 6 of these, if not more.
If your child is able to, have them cut out their hand and foot prints. Cut two strips of the brown construction paper and fold accordion style for the legs. Use the yellow to make some feet for your turkey. Cut out a small triangle for the turkey's wattle. Now it's time to put your turkey together!
The heel of the foot print will be your turkey's head. Arrange the hand prints behind the turkey's head to make his tail, and glue them into place. Draw a face onto your turkey and glue the red wattle just below the eyes. Glue on the feet to the legs and then the legs to the body. After the glue is dry, hang the turkey up as part of your Thanksgiving decorations.
Keeping these craft projects can help you trace your child's growing creativity and skills - especially if you repeat this same craft from year to year! Don't forget to write the date and your child's age on the back!