Thanksgiving is only a few days away and we bet your taste buds are already getting excited about tasting that freshly cooked turkey and warm pumpkin pie. While you’re gearing up for the most food-centric holiday of the year, we encourage you to teach your children the meaning behind Thanksgiving and organize some time to express gratitude. An easy and fun way to allow your children to communicate what they’re thankful for this Thanksgiving is to come together and make gratitude crafts. Organizing activities that make your children write down what they’re thankful for causes them to really think about gratitude and what they have to appreciate in their lives. Below are just a few of our favorite ways to get your kids crafting and involved this turkey day.
1. Gratitude Pumpkins
The simple and easy to make gratitude pumpkins are a great way to get your kids in the Thanksgiving spirit. All that’s needed to make this adorable project is construction paper, a stapler, and a permanent marker. With each piece of the pumpkin having a different message of gratitude, your children will have fun making a cute craft while also being able to express what they’re thankful for. Plus, these would make great table decorations!
2. Give Thanks Turkeys
Do you remember making handprint turkeys as a child around Thanksgiving? Well, this craft from PragmaticMom.com takes that classic idea and gives it a new life. All that’s needed to make a Give Thanks Turkey is construction paper, a permanent marker, pinecones, pom poms, and googly eyes. Use an outline of your child’s hand as the turkey’s feathers or cut out strips of construction paper. Either way, let your child write down what they’re thankful for on the “feathers” and display around the house during the month of November. Each time your child sees them they’ll be proud of what they made and also remember what they’re grateful for.
3. Thankfulness Wreath
We love this idea because your children are able to write down what they’re thankful for, but you also get a great holiday themed wreath out of it! All that’s needed to make a Thankfulness Wreath is construction paper, ribbon or twine, a permanent marker, and a hot glue gun to piece it all together. Once completed, display on your front door or on a door around the house and show your children you’re proud of their creation.
These simple yet festive crafts are a great way to get your children involved and teach them why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not just a time to eat to our heart’s content, but a time to look back on the year and identify what we’re grateful for in our lives. Doing gratitude crafts will allow your child time to sit down and really think about what they’re thankful for and give them an outlet to convey those thoughts. Plus, you can’t deny they’re extremely cute!
