Thanksgiving Activities

 

Pilgrim Hat for Boys

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This would be cute to use for a Thanksgiving feast or play at school or daycare.

This project is rated VERY EASY to do.

What You Need
 

  • 10x13" Black construction paper
  • 9x12" Gray construction paper
  • Tape
  • Pen or pencil
  • Scissors
  • Glue
 
How To Make It 
  1. Cut an oval out of the black construction paper the full size of the paper.
  2. Cut a strip of paper to make a band to put around the boy's head, tape it. Put that circle (slightly oval) on the paper to trace the inner circle. Then draw a circle around it. Leave about a 2" brim on 3 sides and about 4" on the "front".
  3. Draw the trapezoid, and cut out the gray parts. (see photo)
  4. Cut out a band and band and buckle out of gray paper.
  5. Glue the hat band on the hat and then the buckle on top of the band.
  6. Bend the hat piece up and try on the child.
  7. You may need to adjust the opening to fit the individual child's head.
  8. On the underneath side, apply tape to the two points where the hat bends. This will help reinforce the stress point, and hopefully prevent tearing.
 
Tips
 
This hat could probably also be made out of felt. I would suggest cutting 2 hats out of black, and gluing the two together to give the hat stability.

Decorated Pumpkin Cake

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This was an easy cake to make. You could also use black frosting or gel to create a jack-o-lantern face for Halloween.

Parental supervision is recommended.

Note: As in all recipes, results can vary depending on humidity, conditions, etc. Please try any recipe out before attempting in a group setting.

This project is rated AVERAGE to do.

What You Need 

  • Cake mix
  • Bundt cake pan
  • Cupcake pan
  • Cupcake paper liner
  • Frosting
  • Spatula
  • Red, Yellow, and Green food coloring
  • 2 Small mixing bowls
 
How To Make It
 
  1. Mix the cake according to directions on the box.
  2. Pour the cake mix into ONE cupcake liner.
  3. Pour the rest of the cake mix into the bundt cake pan, coating the pan as directed on the box.
  4. Bake according to the directions on the box, making sure you don't over bake the cupcake.
  5. Let cool.
  6. Mix up a small amount of frosting in one mixing bowl using green food coloring.
  7. Mix up the rest of the frosting in another mixing bowl using red and yellow food coloring to create orange.
  8. Frost the cake with the orange frosting.
  9. Frost the cupcake on the sides and bottom with the green frosting.
  10. Place the cupcake, bottom side up, on the top of the cake.
  11. Enjoy!


Corn Collage


Make a Thanksgiving corn decoration out of paper and popcorn! An easy group craft to make.

This project is rated EASY to do.

What You Need
 

  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Popcorn kernels
  • Popped popcorn
  • Yellow and green construction paper or printed pattern and crayons to color it
 
How To Make It
 
Before you start
  1. Find a place to work, and protect it with a large sheet of paper.
  2. Gather all your materials.
  3. Read all the directions.

Making your Corn Collage

Step 1 - Make the Corn Picture

Print and color this pattern.
You might want to glue it to a piece of heavy paper or thin cardboard to make it sturdier.

or

Cut out a corn cob shape from yellow construction paper and cut out some leaves from green construction paper. You might find it easiest to cut out the corn cob, then lay it on the green paper, then draw the leaves, then cut them out. You can glue the finished shape to thin cardboard if you want to make it sturdier.

Step 2 - Attach the corn

Put glue all over the corn cob section, the glue unpopped or popped corn (or both) to the cob.

You're Done!

Let the glue dry, then enjoy your decoration. Be sure to hang it up inside, where it won't get wet! 

Colorful Turkey Decoration

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This is a very colorful turkey you can use to decorate your Thanksgiving table.

Parental supervision is recommended.

This project is rated EASY to do.

What You Need
 

  • 2 Toilet paper tubes
  • Brown construction paper
  • Yellow construction paper
  • Red construction paper
  • White construction paper
  • Black construction paper
  • Pencil
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Tempera paints or watercolor paints
  • Paintbrush
  • Stapler
 
How To Make It
 
  1. Trace around the child's hand on one piece of white construction paper. Note: You may wish to trace larger around the child's hand to make the turkey feathers bigger and also make it easier for the child to cut out.
  2. Cut out the pattern.
  3. Paint the hand pattern with different colors of paints.
  4. Let the paint dry.
  5. Cut one of the toilet paper tubes in half. (You will only need 1 piece)
  6. Cut out brown construction paper to fit around the two toilet paper tubes and staple it on to the tubes.
  7. Staple the two tubes together, the shorter on top of the longer one.
  8. Cut out a beak and feet out of the yellow construction paper, a gobbler out of red construction paper, and eyes out of white and black construction paper.
  9. Attach the eyes, beak, feet, and gobbler to the tubes with glue. (See photo)
  10. Staple the feathers to the back of the tubes when the feathers are dry.

Craft Exchange

Pilgrim Hat for Girls

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This would be cute to use for a Thanksgiving feast or play at school or daycare.

This project is rated VERY EASY to do.

What You Need 

  • 12x18" White construction paper
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Hole punch
  • Yarn

 

    How To Make It
     

      pilgrim hat
    1. Fold the paper lengthwise back 2" to create the front opening. Crease well.
    2. Bend, without folding, the hat over the child's head so that the 2 shorter ends meet at each side of the child's jawline.
    3. Have the child hold the hat in place. Meanwhile step behind the child and cut a slit about 6" from the end of the paper towards the head. Cut another slit about 6" from the other end in towards the head.
    4. Remove from child's head.
    5. Bending paper back in same position as if on child's head, fold the middle section down and hold.
    6. Fold one side over the middle section and glue in place.
    7. Fold the other side over the other two sections and glue in place.
    8. Place the hat on a flat surface with the face opening up. Place something like a heavy book on it to hold in place.
    9. Let dry.
    10. On each end, hole punch one hole in the turned over flap.
    11. Tie a piece of yarn to each hole.
    12. The child then puts the hat on and ties the yarn to hold it on her head.
    13. Cute as can be, and simple to make!

 
Tips
 
This hat could also be made out of felt and used each year. You could use Velcro to hold the hat in place, and then lay it out flat for storage.

Thanksgiving Paper Chains

To make a paper chain for a table decoration, or anywhere else you might think to decorate, take a piece of paper and fold it using an accordion fold. Fold the paper the same width as the design you are going to use.

Print one of the designs below, or make your own. Cut out the design to use as a pattern. Place the cut out turkey or hat on top of the paper. Make sure you don't cut the edges that are on either end!

Use black paper for the hat, brown paper for the turkey, or color your own designs onto white paper.

You can stand the chains up in a circle for a table decoration, or tape onto a door as a border decoration.

Patterns

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