The last thing you want to have to deal with on Thanksgiving–besides being forced to watch Uncle George and Cousin Ralph duke it out over ways lawmakers should resolve the fiscal cliff–is witnessing a mini table filled with kids go bonkers from boredom.
There may be little you can do to avoid dysfunction amongst your older guests, but there are a slew of simple tricks you can pull out of your hat to keep your youngest Turkey Day guests entertained, including:
Turkey Hunt: Place turkey stickers on 12 index cards and list a small prize on the back of each before hiding them around the house. Next, send kids on a hunt to find the cards. Award the child the prize found on the back of the card he or she finds. Depending on the number of children you have participating in the hunt you could limit the prizes or offer one large prize for the player who finds the most turkey cards.
Place Cards and Mats: Put your young guests to work by having them create homemade place cards or place mats for your Thanksgiving guests. Use cardstock for the place cards and have the kids use paint, chalk, crayons or markers to add names and other festive designs. Do the same for the placemats. Kids can draw handprint turkeys, pumpkins or leaves on large pieces of colored construction paper. When they are done, cover the mats with clear contact paper and place them on the dinner table.
Glitter Cones: This is a fun, but somewhat messy project that will keep kids quiet while the adults enjoy Thanksgiving dessert. Collect a bunch of sturdy pine cones from your yard or buy them at a discount retailer. Next, have the kids coat them with glue and roll them in sequins or colored glitter. You can use the decorative cones to create a centerpiece, place them in a basket and set them by the fireplace or hang them on the Christmas tree. Another option is to make the cones into turkeys by gluing on googly eyes, a triangular piece of yellow paper for the beak and a small piece of red pipe cleaner for the wattle.
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