Entertaining Thanksgiving Activities and Crafts for Children

It’s time for our Thanksgiving gathering, and the one part I look forward to is seeing all the kids. Of course, keeping the children entertained while we finish cooking has been a challenge. Although, this year I’ve got a few simple ideas for some thanksgiving activities, games, and crafts to help entertain the kids at your gathering.

Box It: It’s a bit old fashioned, but there’s are plenty of great games that are just as entertaining now as when we were kids. Among my favorite’s are Sorry, Trouble, and other board Games by Hasbro, which has been rated as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by the Ethisphere Institute. Before your Thanksgiving gathering have your friends and relatives bring one of their board games that have been sitting around collecting dust. This will give kids an opportunity to enjoy activity you did as a children. You’d be surprised at how many people and kids will want to play once a game gets going. And, there will be plenty of time over Thanksgiving break for the kids to enjoy playing video games and their media devices.

Did you know Hasbro has Apps available? Among some of the game Apps are BOP IT SMASH iTunes App, My Little Pony: Party of One iTunes App, NERF Blaster Challenge iTunes App, and others.

Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving to us is about family, and in our busy world of media and technology there may be nothing more special to a Grandparent or other relative than a written note from a child. For children who are younger and have not mastered the art of writing let them make a hand print inside a card.

Supplies:

Colored paper or Printer paper will do
Colored pencils
Additional supplies: glitter and glue if available.
A small box or bag to collect loose glitter.

Directions for Thanksgiving Card:

Fold the paper in half, then fold again to make a card.

Have child write a personal message or draw a picture for their relative.

For little children, place their hand on the page and trace around it. Then, they can color it in.

Afterwards, if you have glitter you can add a touch of glue to a few areas of the page and sprinkle on the glitter. Then, gently tap the card over a bag or box to remove loose glitter.

Now, the children have created a wonderful keepsake for their relatives to show their appreciation and love.

Another Crafty Idea:

More Craft Ideas: One of my favorite crafting mediums is SculpeyÃ?® by the Polyform Products Company. SculpeyÃ?® comes in a variety of lines that include the standard white clay to clay for erasers, and clay that glows in the dark, which kids love! SculpeyÃ?® also comes is a wonderful selection of colors. I usually pick the packs with several colors in one, and buy the original white clay to go with it. Here’s an idea for a Small Christmas Tree Ornament:

Supplies:

Non-stick surface.
Sculpey�® in a variety of colors.
Push pins for make hole for string in top of tree.
Gold, silver, or colored string.

Directions for Small Christmas Tree Ornament:

To make a small Christmas Tree from Sculpey�® have the children knead it until soft.

Next shape the tree. You can add a tree stump or brown clay to add later.

Then, select the colors for the decorations. If you have more than one or two children working on a tree it may be best for an adult to help create the ornaments.

Roll out the selected colors for ornaments into a long thin strip, then cut of small pieces. Roll each piece into a small ball to match the proportion of your tree.

Once you have the ornaments ready children can place them on their trees. Gently push down to secure them in place.

After all the trees are decorated an adult can take a push pin and create the hole for the string.

Bake your trees on a no-stick flat pan or in glassware at 275�°F for ten minutes. Carefully remove the pan and check the surface of the trees for hardness with a toothpick, gently. If the trees are still soft put them in for another ten minutes.

Once they Christmas Tree’s are done baking, cut a small length of your string to fit through the hole on the top of your tree. Tie it off, and hang it one the tree!

Another great project for children is creating decorative flatware or silverware for Thanksgiving. The great thing is the oven’s already hot so you can bake the clay – bake at 275Ã?°F. SculpeyÃ?® has a great project guide for Tinted Translucent Mokume Gane Serving Utensils. Although, you could use their other clays and it would work just as well. You can find inexpensive flatware or silverware at your local dollar store. A link to this project is included at the end of this article.

Decorate The Tree: Saving the decoration of the Christmas Tree until our Thanksgiving gathering gives us a chance to take some wonderful photos of the children. We’ve moved away from traditional ornaments, and decorated our tree with toys. So, each year I save all the small toys from the children’s meals at local restaurant to add to the tree. One fun way each child can help is by bringing a small toy or hanging the ornament they’ve made on the tree.

Entertainment Time: Put on one of your favorite holiday movies. Among our picks for holiday movies is Home Alone from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In this film, Macaulay Culkin starred as 8 year old Kevin MacAllister, who’s family accidentally forgets him on their rush to get to the airport for their Christmas vacation in France. Of course, for Kevin it seems like a great mistake because he has the run of the house. That is until two thieves decide to rob his house. From here everything goes wrong for the crooks, and in the end all Kevin wants is to see his family again. Look for Home
Alone in your local video store.

Wherever your travel take you for your Thanksgiving gathering, I hope you have a wonderful and safe journey.

References and Resources:

Find a variety of clay and project ideas for creating crafts with Sculpey�® by the Polyform Products Company at http://www.sculpey.com/.

To view the Tinted Translucent Mokume Gane Serving Utensils Project Guide visit http://www.sculpey.com/projects/tinted-translucent-mokume-gane-serving-utensils .

Discover the fun and entertaining games offered by Hasbro on their website at http://www.hasbro.com.