Thanksgiving Kid's Crafts Packs

My kids have been acting a little annoying restless lately. They're a little harder to entertain. They're a little more sassy. And the telltale sign... they are driving their mama CRAZY.

I think it started over fall break, when we didn't have as much to do as usual and I didn't do enough in advance to ward off the boredom. Since then, I have been flat exhausted. Our little man is waking up several times each night and I'm not sure why. It could be teething. It could be separation anxiety. Whatever it is, it's keeping me up all night every night, or at least that's how it feels.

The result is an overtired, not-so-patient mama who doesn't have a lot of tolerance for umm anything. Enter Pinterest and some awesome craft ideas for kiddos from some very crafty folks.


Have you visited No Time for Flash Cards? If you want to do a project or craft or activity of any kind with a child of any age, start at NTFFC. Letter of the week, holidays, seasons, math, science, etc. etc. Just go see for yourself. I found a couple for Turkey Day that I thought would be easy enough for both my kids (22mos & 4 1/2yrs).

Handprint Turkey

How cute is this?? The supply list is short and the prep time is minimal. Check it out in detail here.

Turkey Counting Craft

I put together the supplies for this one, but didn't make the counting sheets. I'm not sure if I'll just leave it as a craft or use the counting aspect. Either way, it works. Find the full scoop here.

No Time for Flash Cards has a great roundup of Thanksgiving crafts, which is where I found the two above and 19 others! What I love about NTFCC is that usually the supplies are items you probably already have or will use again.

Here's another Pinterest find - a great Pilgrim craft from easypreschoolcraft.blogspot.jp.

Paper Plate Pilgrim (and Indian) from easypreschoolcraft.blogspot.jp

This is the first year that we've talked about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving so I really wanted to do a Pilgrim craft. I liked the simplicity of this one so I cut out the pieces to be put together by baby girl. She can also do the coloring and draw the face. I designed a paper plate Indian too since the story we read about the first Thanksgiving includes how the Indians helped the early settlers to survive.

Now crafty ideas are great, but having the supplies ready to go at a moment's notice is even better. If boredom sets in, it can take a long time (in kid minutes) to find all the necessary supplies and then do any necessary prep work. I did some quick and easy advanced preparation and now I have a few craft projects all set to go.

Hello, girls!

I traced a small bowl for the turkey body and drew the faces with a sharpie (try not to be too overwhelmed by my artistic genius) and I glued on the little red waddles so they would be authentic. Yes, it's really called a waddle, at least according to Ally McBeal. I cut out a stack of multi-colored feathers that can be glued on to make an easy, but cute craft.

I made another craft pack for the Pilgrim and Indian paper plate men, but the picture is really not worth posting. I cut a bunch of Christmas trees from green felt and I figure those can be decorated with supplies we already have (glitter glue, foam stickers, etc) or if I get super industrious, I'll make felt ornaments which could be reused for unlimited decorating fun! We'll see about that maybe after a full night of sleep.

How do you keep boredom at bay for little ones?


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