Children’s
Thanksgiving Table
I love Thanksgiving and it is my husband's favorite holiday. And since this entire month's roundups are dedicated to Thanksgiving, I thought about some new traditions I would like to start for my own family.
I grew up with a very large family. We would all get together at my Uncle's, say a thankful prayer and we would have mountains of food (My cousin, Chris, usually had about three or four layers...and two plates). We would play football in the yard and then we would have some more food!
We always had a kids table, but since the event was so large, their wasn't a huge emphasis on decorating the table for the kiddos. Not to mention that there was always more than ten kiddos running around, and at least 30 adults and teens! It was big and it was always a challenge just to get all the food prepared, let alone make table decorations.
Here are a few table settings that range from super easy to a little more involved. I love these craft ideas. They are fun and personal. Even if you are having several children running around your home this Thanksgiving, maybe you can find something here to make this Thanksgiving special for each one of them.
Enjoy!!
Top Row: 1. Pilgrim Hat Crayon Holder 2. Snack Pie (a personal favorite) 3. Fall Tree Centerpiece
Bottom Row: Entire place setting showing the Mayflower drink cup
1. Turkey Leg Seat Saver 2. Turkey Clip Fork Holder
I think the above is by far my favorite place setting. I love the colors and the little touches are so creative. You can find how to make each one at Fiskars. I love the snack pie. That is just an adorable idea, and very easy to pull off. Another favorite is the Mayflower drink cup. On my Internet crawl, I didn't find any other instances where the drinking cup pulled double duty as a decoration. Very cute!
Napkin Holders
Napkin holders may not necessarily be on the radar for a kids table, but here are a couple of really cute ones. The top is a button napkin ring that is made to mimic the look of corn. All you need is some felt, Popsicle sticks, glue and buttons. It's very simple. You can find the full tutorial here.
The bottom napkin holder is a great way to add a touch of personalization for the kiddos and also lets them know where they are sitting! I love double duty crafts! You can find the tutorial here.
Snack Attack!
Kiddos love snacks and while they are waiting for their food to arrive, give them something to keep them in their seats.
1. Turkey Snack Cup
This is very cute. You can put anything in it and you can even personalize for a seat saver.
2. Turkey Sucker Holder
You don't have to have suckers though! What about long pretzels??
3. Paper Plate Cornucopia
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this idea. It's rustic, it's easy and when I saw it I didn't even have a clue that it was just a paper plate underneath some twine and a piece of manila rope. I love this idea!
4. Apple Turkey Place Card
This little craft pulls triple duty! That's my kind of craft. In the tutorial it says to glue the "head" to the apple, but you could glue the head to a paperclip and just stick it into the apple and then it is completely edible! So that's decoration, place card and nutritious snack...yep, that's a winner!
Activities (And one more snack attack...)
I should have put the cute and simple snack cones with the others, but these three ideas are from the same lovely little blog, Lily's Laundry. The snack cones were made out of paper she printed (which she offers as a free download!!)
The activity she chose for her table made me think of Grace. She is very into beading right now and we do it every chance we get. I love how each child has their own jar of beads with their name on it. This is an adorable table.
You could also go for a cute little Thanksgiving place mat that...hold it...pulls double duty as an activity mat!! Can you tell I'm a sucker for double duty?
The top mat has three different activities; spot the difference, a turkey maze and a picture to color. You can download and print here.
The bottom mat is fun. It's chalk cloth! You can order it on Fabric.com, but Beverly of Flamingo Toes mentions that she thinks it is available at Joann's. What a cute idea!
This Turkey Caddy is really easy to make. All it takes is a Styrofoam ball (halved), card stock, googly eyes, glue and some brown paint. Once you put the turkey body together you just stick the markers and color pencils in and voila! It's another double duty creation - center piece and activity caddy!
This one doesn't necessarily have to count as an activity, but I just love the setting. I found it at Hip Hip Hooray and it is actually a feature of another blogger. It's very simple and rustic. They used butcher paper for the table cloth and wrote by hand the checklist of what the kiddos ate. In addition to the check list, a circle was drawn with a menu placed in the center. They also made "I am thankful" wands that included statements such as, "I am thankful for my Grandma and Grandpa". I love this table setting. I find it very beautiful.
Chair Decorations
Chair decorations? Well, why not?! Kiddos are notoriously clumsy creatures. Something is going to get spilled or even broken. Why not use the chair space to further decorate or personalize the experience.
The top picture comes from the same setting as above at Hip Hip Hooray. This little bunting is the perfect way to tell your smaller guests where their seat is. Then they can take it home and hang it on their bedroom walls. How fun!
The middle picture is a simple felt chair cover. This can actually be a no sew project. You can even further personalize the covers by putting the child's name on it.
I love the bottom picture. It's actually a rolled up woven place mat. This one doesn't have great instructions, actually, hardly none. However, use your imagination. Hang something like this from the chair to hold little goodies, craft supplies or things the kiddos can take home. It's a cute idea.
I hope you have enjoyed this Roundup and I hope you have gotten a few ideas for the kiddos that will be spending their Thanksgiving with you, or even just for your own.
Until next time...
