Thanksgiving Kids' Table Ideas AND Free Pattern for "Mayflower" Treat Holder!

I can't believe November is half way over! Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I did some searching for Thanksgiving kids' table activities this year and found so many wonderful ideas. I picked out a few that I am going to to with my family this year. I am hoping to make Thanksgiving more of an exciting holiday for the kids. As I get older I am loving Thanksgiving more and more each year. It has become my second favorite holiday, next to Christmas of course. But I remember as a kid not liking it much. For kids I think it just a holiday to get past so they can get on with the good stuff. But I am truly excited for Thanksgiving this year (despite what my husband will tell you. I was teasing him about wanting to putting up the tree today) and I really want my kids to have a good time too. Here's all the fun that will be happening at our Thanksgiving kids table this year...

THIS site has free Thanksgiving scavenger hunt pages to print out. I think I'm going to add to this though, I want to include all the cousins names on the sheet, as well as the different foods I know will be served this year. I'll probably hand these out to the kids in the morning and let them check them off through out the day.

One of my favorite blogs had THIS great idea. I love it!

We actually did THIS idea the other night for family night and the kids had so much fun. P is still wearing hers everyday and has retold the Thanksgiving story to us all a dozen or more times. The only change I made is we chose a sparkly white bead representing religious freedom. I thought it fit better.

And lastly my own knock off Pottery Barn Thanksgiving kids table decoration. I love pouring over Pottery Barn catalogs for inspiration. I think I can count on one hand the amount of things I have actually purchased from their store, but the catalogs keep arriving in my mail box every month just the same.

I drew up a really quick little pattern for this Mayflower treat holder. You can print it off HERE for free. I want to make one of these for each of the cousins to set next to their plates, and I really think that is an achievable goal, seeing as how fast they came together!

To make this cute little boat, print off the pattern and cut two boat sides and one boat bottom from brown felt. I was able to make 2 boats out of one fat quarter of felt. Put the two boat sides together and blanket stitch down both sides. Then blanket stitch the bottom of the boat into place. I used the blanket stitch on my machine and it took my a grand total of 3 minutes! Gotta love projects like that! I used some left over wooden skewers from cooking kabobs last summer to make the boats mast and cut a sail out of white card stock. I hot glued the skewer to the bottom of the boat to hold it in place and once I filled it with candy it held up the "mast" perfectly. When I presented it to the judges (my kids) and asked them what they thought, the two big kids both yelled out "Mayflower!". Perhaps it's been all the talk of Thanksgiving lately, but I was very impressed they even remembered the boat's name!