Thanksgiving Day Activities to Keep the Kids Happy

Thanks to some amazing bloggers and Pinterest, I'm grateful to have so many creative ideas and activities for the little ones this Thanksgiving.

This year our family gathering will be about 20+ people and very few kids, my twins (age 2) and their twin cousins (age 8). I tried to pull together a few activities that the little and big ones can enjoy doing together.

Last year, we spent the entire afternoon chasing the babies around the house trying to keep them from breaking things, climbing the stairs, or hurting themselves on the brick fireplace. My husband and I were exhausted, and the entire afternoon was a blur. To tell you the truth, it wasn't any fun at all. I hope this year we can all enjoy ourselves. The girls are old enough now that they can sit and play at least long enough for me to enjoy some turkey and a glass of wine.

A mother can dream can't she?

I thought we'd start the afternoon off with the turkey scavenger hunt outside. The winner with the most turkeys will receive a prize, of course! Then before our toes are frozen, we'll move inside for some coloring pages for the little ones and Thanksgiving trivia questions for the older ones. In a party full of so many adults, trivia questions are a fun way to get all ages interacting. For more holiday entertainment, there will be board games, crossword puzzles and pumpkin play dough.

I'm saving the best for last, the rice krispy treat turkeys, will be great for entertaining the kids during dinner. I know my little ones will love this activity because it is so similar to the play dough/cheerio project we do at home. If all else fails, I'll be stocked with plenty of stickers to put all over the table.

Thanksgiving Activity Resources:

Turkey Hunt Printable
Coloring Pages
Thanksgiving Trivia
Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle
Pumpkin Pie Play Dough
Turkey Rice Krispy Treats

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Liz

The Most Amazing Pumpkin Bread Ever!

Having a baking assistant is a must!

I'll let you in on my top secret recipe for pumpkin bread: It is the Libby's Pumpkin Bread Kit found in most retailers this fall. My mom and I have been making this pumpkin bread for years. This is our go to gift for everyone around the holidays. It comes in single and double boxes. The double boxes will make 2 large or 4 small loaves.

The trick is to add orange juice where it calls for water. I've never used the icing that it comes with because I find it sweet enough.

 To take this recipe over the top, add the large Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips. Be sure to make enough to share and keep for yourself! You have to try it, it is moist, delicious, and totally addicting. Everyone who tries it wants the recipe, but you never have to tell, it will be our little secret.

Posted by Liz

 

Wishbone Drama - Now I Have Seen it All!

This year, my 6-year old son thought it would be fun to watch/help his grandpa cut the Thanksgiving turkey.  For all of his effort, my son received the wishbone.  Naturally, his 4-year old sister wanted it, too, but we compromised and said they would each get one side of the wishbone to see who ends up with the bigger side of the wishbone.

Activities and games like this never work out well in my home because someone always "loses."  I know it, and they know it.  And while I value the long-term lesson of having good sportsmanship and understanding that winning isn't everything, in the short-term, activities like these always seem to involve some sort of whining or crying!

After agreeing there would be absolutely no crying, they both began to pull on the wishbone.  After nearly 2 minutes of pulling, this is what happened:

The kids thought it was hilarious and I explained that they both got to make wishes.  And I suppose my wish came true, too - crisis averted! 

Homework Assignment: What I am Thankful For...

This Thanksgiving right around the corner, my son's kindergarten class is in full swing with it's Thanksgiving activities. He has come home singing lots of fun Thanksgiving songs and colored a lot of cute turkeys.

But then there was the homework assignment: What am I thankful for?

While I can easily list off all the things I am thankful for, it is a bit challenging to try and explain to a 5-year old what thankful means. So after all of my word salad confused him, I turned to the good old dictionary.

Here's the definition according to merriam-webster.com:

Thankful: conscious of benefit received; expressive of thanks; well pleased, glad

So those definitions didn't help me so much in my explanation. But luckily some of the synonyms did:

blissful, delighted, gratified, happy, joyful, joyous, pleased, satisfied, glad, tickled

I still think at 5, he doesn't necessarily get it. But asking him the question made me realize we probably need to keep talking about it until he does get it!

Gobble Gobble Cupcakes

Since I spend half of my time on the computer playing games and activities at PlayhouseDisney.com, I was excited to find an idea that my son and I were able to try out for ourselves.

These Turkey Cupcakes are just one of the many recipes and ideas PlayhouseDisney.com is featuring for Thanksgiving. Click here to check out the other decorations, games and activities and recipes you can use to involve your kids in all the Thanksgiving fun!