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Thanksgiving Placemat Craft

October 19, 2016

When you think of Thanksgiving, you most likely also think about food! A great hands on activity that kiddies love, is making their very own Thanksgiving Placemats, that are actually durable enough to use on Thanksgiving day!

You can find step by step instructions below

DIY Thanksgiving craft/activity for kids in the classroom. Have fun while teaching fine motor skills and making a paper placemat.

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1. PREP MATERIALS

I like to use large construction paper for this craft (12 X18), because you do end up trimming some of the sides, and you do want them to have the option to actually fit their plate and utensils on it.

Choose the colors you would like to use. I used orange as the base color and yellow as the strips.

Cut slices into the orange base color, and then cut yellow strips.

Gather your paint and paintbrushes. You will need brown and red paint. I recommend Crayola Tempura Washable Paint (grab the brown paint here and the red paint here). Have a black marker handy to draw the eye, legs, and students name. You will also need a glue stick for any loose pieces on the edges.

2. CHOOSE YOUR SMALL GROUPS

This activity works best with small groups because it can be quiet challenging and does require a lot of modeling. This is a great craft for working on fine motor skills, and it definitely requires focus and thinking. That being said, the children do love this craft.

Model how to weave the yellow strips in and out of the orange base. If you need a refresher on paper weaving you can do a quick youtube search. There are some great videos that model it for you.

Let the kiddies weave the yellow into the orange.

Apply some glue from behind to the edges to keep the strips in place.

3. Handprint Turkeys

Once students have finished weaving their paper, they are ready for their handprint turkey. Paint the palm of their hand AND their thumb brown, and the rest of their fingers red. Have them press their hand onto the center of the placement.

Let the paint dry. Then using a black marker, have the kids draw legs, add an eye, and write their name across the top. Add a beak and wattle (that red thing that hangs from their neck is a wattle!) with a marker as well.