Throwback Thanksgiving Crafts to Make with Your Child

Before the days of Pinterest and craft bloggers, we were creating masterpieces with construction paper, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. The crafts we brought home were pretty simple, but we were no less proud of them! For this holiday season, let’s bring it back to the basics with these five throwback Thanksgiving crafts.

[divider]Turkey Hand[/divider]

Supplies:
Construction Paper
Pencil
Glue
Scissors

Instructions:
Little ones may need some help with cutting for this Thanksgiving craft, but a Turkey Hand is an easy and simple craft you can do with supplies you probably have on hand already. Have your child, possibly with some help from you, trace their hand on a piece of construction paper and then cut this out along the lines. Using their imagination and colorful paper, have them cut out shapes for the claws, beak, eyes, and wattle. Once everything is cut out, have your child glue these pieces all together to see how a hand can become a turkey!

[divider]Native American Headdress[/divider]

Supplies:
Feathers
Construction Paper
Glue
Scissors

Instructions:
Making a Native American headdress can help to retell the story of the first Thanksgiving and the importance of Native Americans to our nation’s history. Simply measure your child’s head and trim the strip of construction paper to size. Cut a vertical slit on the bottom of one end and the top of the other. Have your child glue on feathers, either craft feathers or cut-outs from construction paper, and then let dry. Once ready, wrap around your child’s head and fit the slits into each other to secure.

[divider]Leaf Imprints[/divider]

Supplies:
Leaves
Crayons
Paper

Instructions:
Have fun with your child gathering colorful leaves from your yard or neighborhood. You can even use this opportunity to talk with them about the science behind fall leaves. Once you’ve collected your leaves, place them underneath a white paper. Have your child match crayons with the color of the leaves and gently rub the crayon over top of the leaves. This will reveal the veins, patterns, and shape of each leaf. Consider using this picture for a card to send to a family member your child may not be able to visit this holiday season.

[divider]Toilet Paper Turkey[/divider]

Supplies:
Toilet Paper Rolls
Pipe Cleaners
Construction Paper
Glue
Googly Eyes
Scissors

Instructions:
If you are the crafty type, you may already know that toilet paper rolls can be used for a myriad of different crafts. Thanksgiving crafts are no different! Using a toilet paper roll, have your child glue on a pair of googly eyes. For the feathers, you can get creative and use hand cut-outs (as in Turkey Hand above), feathers, paint sample strips, or cut-outs from construction paper. Using pipe cleaners, help your child to bend and shape the turkey claws and glue to the bottom of the roll. Cut out a triangle for the beak and a heart for the wattle. Glue all the pieces together to make your Toilet Paper Turkey!

[divider]Tissue Paper Wreath[/divider]

Supplies:
Paper Plate
Tissue Paper
Glue
Twine
Scissors

Instructions:
A Tissue Paper Wreath can be used for any holiday, but in the context of Thanksgiving crafts, have your child select tissue paper in typical fall colors. You can have them look outside to see what colors they can find, and then select tissue paper to mimic the scenery. Cut out the middle of a paper plate in order to make the base for the wreath. Cut the tissue paper into small pieces, and then glue these pieces to the plate. To limit the mess, place a drop of glue onto the plate, and then have your child place the tissue paper piece directly onto the dot of glue. Complete this process until the wreath is full, and then hang using twine (or ribbon).

*We are thankful to Zurchers for providing us with supplies and decorations to make these fun and simple Thanksgiving crafts!