A fun Thanksgiving craft to do with the kids in preparation for family arriving
Thanksgiving is the most delicious holiday. A holiday centered around food, and family, and giving thanks is hard to find fault with. I mean, really, who doesn’t like mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and pie? Even though I love the food Thanksgiving offers, it really is the meaning of the holiday that I love the most. Giving thanks while surrounded by friends and family, looking back at the year with gratitude in your heart. It’s just the best.
With this warm and fuzzy gratefulness in mind I’ve been crafting with my girls focusing on family, and gratitude. The other day we made some adorable Thanksgiving cards to send to our friends and family to let them know who’s thankful for them. We also embraced the traditional Thanksgiving symbol and had a blast making turkey place cards for the Thanksgiving table that also double as a place for friends and family to jot down what they are thankful for this year. Not only will your kids enjoy making a part of your holiday table decor, you’ll make friends and family feel special by marking their spot at your holiday table with an individual and adorable turkey, and you’ll also be fostering a conversation of gratitude at your holiday meal.
The fun thing about this Thanksgiving craft is how varied they can be. Make turkeys that coordinate around the table, or make unique turkeys for everyone at your table, embrace fun patterns or stick to solid colors. It’s really up to you. Or I guess I should say if your kids are anything like mine then it’s really probably up to your kids. My girls picked the colors and patterns they liked. I simply helped cut circles and stepped back to watch them create from there.
Supplies needed to make Thanksgiving Turkey Place Cards
- Scrapbook or craft paper in a variety of colors and patterns (It’s entirely up to you!)
- 5.5″x 4″ Folded note cards (we used brown but any color you like will do)
- Googly eyes
- Orange paper to make beaks
- Ribbon
- Glue stick (and white school glue or craft glue if you have it)
- Markers
- Scissors
- Circular objects to trace, stencils, or punches (it really doesn’t matter what you use)
How to make Thanksgiving Turkey Place Cards
1. Prepare the pieces that will make your turkeys. Cut the note cards in half. This is optional as you could also just use the full note card. We decided we like the way half a note card showed of the turkey’s feathers, and it saved some money and paper since we could make double the place cards with the same pack of note cards.
2. Cut your circles from a mix of colors and patterns. You will need three sizes of circles for the turkey feathers ( about 3″, 3 1/2″, and 4″ in diameter), one circle for the body (about 2 1/2″ in diameter), and a small circle for a head (about 1 1/4″). We used a circle cutter, but you could use stencils, tape rolls, bowls, cups, or even large paper punches.
3. Set the body and head circles aside to work with your “feather” circles. Cut the small, medium, and large “feather” circles in half. It’s okay if the circles aren’t cut perfectly down the middle. Pick a large half circle, a medium, and a small and glue them one on top of the other from largest to smallest with the patterned or colored side facing up. The straight edge of the half circles should line up.
4. Pick a body circle and glue it down onto the smallest half circle. The spacing should be similar to the spacing of the half circles.
5. Now take a head circle and glue it to the top of the body. It should stick above the body and over the first layer of “feathers” too. Glue a set of googly eyes and a orange triangular beak to the turkey head, and a small bow just below the turkey’s head. A few small dots of school glue or craft glue work best for these. Carefully use a glue stick to glue the turkey down onto the note card. Place it close to the bottom to leave room to write about the turkey. Set the turkey aside to let the glue dry.
6. When the glue is dry write “Give Thanks” above the turkey and the name of your Thanksgiving guest on the turkey’s body. If you would like to make the place card do double duty as a gratitude card you can also write “I’m grateful for…” on the inside of the card.
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