Thanksgiving Fun: An Idea Collection

Ah, Thanksgiving.  A time for reflection. A time to appreciate family and friends.  A great time to be together, so why not stretch the celebration by doing a few crafts together beforehand?  A perfect way to slow things down a bit.  Here are some ideas we tried this year...

We hung a festive lighted strand of maple leaves above the windows, but somehow it looked like something was missing.  Aha!  We crafted a dozen owls from egg carton cups and hung them from the string lights with golden string. Much better!  (separate the egg cups, poke hole and tie hanging string into half of the pieces, glue together tops and bottoms, paint brown, glue on wings and beaks from craft foam, and don't forget the google eyes!)

 The autumn leaves are certainly a highlight in our area, and this year the colors were most spectacular. We collected favorites for a week or so, flattening them between books. When we were ready to craft, we spread a thin layer of watered down glue on the leaves and sprinkled glitter on top.  We flipped them over and did the other side, too. Then I sprayed clear glossy paint to hold the glitter in place and give the leaves strength. We attached some gold organdy ribbon and hung them from the lamp over the table. Festive!

I found the GIVE THANKS banner idea on pinterest.. but didn't trace back how to do it until just now... It came from Parents magazine and theirs is definitely nicer, so go check it out here.  I didn't want to make a permanent decoration that we would need to store, so we just used construction paper.  Sheets were cut in half then folded over and stapled for the background of the letters.  The most fun was gathering the materials for the letters!  I admit to doubting that we'd find enough different items to make all those letters, but it really wasn't a problem.  We used pine needles, cone flower seed heads, sticks, leaves, ferns, bark, etc. of various textures and truly enjoyed crafting each letter!  Tacky glue was perfect for adhering all the stuff.

Can a mom (or grandma) EVER have too many handprint crafts? I just had to try this with the boys after seeing it here at Almost Unschoolers...

We made a moose shaped bird seed ornament for our neighbors. Fun little surprise that kids can make to hide on doorsteps!

Lastly, we put together a couple of sweet treats and a conversation starter (quesiton on paper feather) into a paper tube decorated to look like corn. These corn party favors have become a family tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving!