5 Frugal Thanksgiving Kid Activities

Guest post by Stephanie who blogs at Stephanie’s Mommy Brain.

November at my house usually goes something like this:   As I pull our Thanksgiving related children’s books out of the basement at the beginning of the month I think, “THIS year I’m going to read lots of books and make lots of cute turkey crafts with my kids!” Then we get busy doing our normal routine of home school, extra curricular activities, and sitting in front of the TV {just keeping it real}.

Suddenly, the month is half gone.  Thanksgiving is in 3 days and I realize we haven’t done ANYTHING related to turkeys or Pilgrims.  So I scour the internet searching for simple and inexpensive activities we can do quickly.  Sound familiar?

This year I did things a little differently.  I made a plan .  Thankfully, I can share some of the plan with you.  Here are 5 frugal things you can do to celebrate with your family.

1. Spend a Night on the Mayflower.
Not the REAL Mayflower, of course! I mean the pretend one at your house. Eat beef jerky (pretend salt pork), chunks of cheddar cheese, and stale homemade biscuits (do NOT try hardtack!) and drink root beer for supper. Be sure you eat from one communal plate, like the Pilgrims, and sit on the floor. There were no kitchen tables on-board the ship!
After everyone is finished eating, play board games or card games. Or read books about the Pilgrims experiences on the Mayflower. Any activity that causes your family to interact is good. But, no electronics please, those won’t be invented for centuries.
Finally, let your children sleep in sleeping bags on the floor in your bedroom. They’ll think you are such a fun mom!

2. Read Thanksgiving Library Books.
Our local library owns a lot of great children’s Thanksgiving books. Some are silly, some are serious. But they are all fun if you read with different voices and accents. I know you might feel awkward at first, but it’s only your kids listening. Kids LOVE to hear grown-ups make up voices as they read aloud!

3. Build a LEGO Mayflower, Pilgrim, or Plymouth.
I love the creativity LEGOS inspire in my sons. I decided to give my 6 year old a think-outside-the-box assignment one day and asked him to build a LEGO Mayflower. I couldn’t believe what a great job he did with no picture or instructions to guide him. If you have a builder in your house, this is a great hands-on activity!

4. Make Thanksgiving Journals.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to homemade journals. We folded several sheets of plain printer paper and a white piece of cardstock in half and used brads down the side to hold them together. You could staple together construction paper or use twine to hold together scrapbooking paper.

The important thing is to have a place to record Thanksgiving thoughts, words and drawings. We’ve used ours to finish writing prompts throughout this month. You could also keep one journal for the whole family to write down what they are thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving.

5. Make Pilgrim hats.
Pilgrim hats are a classic children’s Thanksgiving craft using black poster board, yellow construction paper, glue, staples and a paper clip. Cut the hat out of poster board and fold up the brim. Cut a strip long enough to go around your child’s head. Staple the strip inside the fold. Use the paper clip at the back to hold the hat on. A simple, easy, and quick kids’ craft - my favorite kind!

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Stephanie is a stay-at-home(schooling) mom blogger. She once endured public humiliation as her oldest son vomited down the front of her maternity shirt in a Mexican restaurant. Not once. But three times. Everything always comes in threes, right? You can read more of her ups and downs in motherhood at Stephanie’s Mommy Brain.  Join her for a month of Thanksgiving activities

 

This post is part of Frugal Friday

This post is part of Frugal Days Sustainable Ways