Thanksgiving crafts for preschool children

November 6, 2:17 PMIrving Stay-at-Home Moms ExaminerLynley Phillips

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Photo by Lynley Baker Phillips

Fall is a time when the outdoors are alive with brilliant color. Leaves are changing, mums are in full bloom and brilliant sunsets paint the evening sky as the family sits down at the supper table. Such gorgeous displays of color and evolving textures can evoke the artistic spirit in everyone, especially young children. This Thanksgiving season take a few moments to enjoy the beauty of nature and channel such beauty into a variety of art projects.

• Sketch some leaves. Recent rainfall has made the color on the local leaves pop this autumn. Take children on a walk to examine trees with changing leaves, engaging in a discussion about such a process. Select a few leaves to take home and sketch. Have children closely study their leaf before they begin to draw it, carefully looking at the detail of the leaf's veins and the changing of its color.
• Create a hand print turkey. Capturing a child's hand print in an exact moment of time makes for a special keepsake to look at year after year. To make a hand print turkey, simply paint the palm and thumb of a child's hand brown. Paint the other four fingers a variety of fall-themed colors. Gently help the child place his hand on a piece of clean paper, making sure his fingers are spread apart wide. Once the hand print dries, draw a face onto the turkey (where the child's thumb is on the hand print) and enjoy!
• Use popcorn to make an Indian corn display. Popcorn is a fun snack food for little hands and makes an excellent crafting tool. Pop a bag of popcorn and divide it into three separate close-top plastic bags (setting aside extra for munching).  Add a different color of paint to each bag (fall colors such as red, orange and yellow work best for this craft), close the bag and shake to distribute the paint over the popcorn. Spread painted popcorn out on a cookie sheet to dry. Once the colored popcorn is dry, glue it onto pattens of Indian corn.
• Craft an edible turkey. Pretzel sticks, grapes, marshmallows and raisins can all be used to transform apples into a festive turkey. The crafting website, Make and Takes, has a pictorial guide of how to complete such a fun and festive animal.
• Make rubbing's of fallen leaves. Gather a few fallen leaves from the yard and glue onto a piece of construction paper. Take a thin piece of white paper and place on top of the leaves. Using fall-colored crayons (red, yellow, green or orange) lightly rub over the top of the leaves. The leaves will begin to pop out on the paper, displaying their intricate lines and details. Display leaf rubbing's in an area where the whole family can enjoy.