by Alyse Passmore

Created on: November 10, 2009

Sparkles, feathers, beads and crayons make craft and activity time wondrous for children. With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles are busy riffling through the family recipes in preparation for the big feast. What better a time to engage your little ones with art projects than now? Just set them up at the kitchen table and while your elbow deep in turkey they will stay occupied.

First things first, it is as important to have all the utensils for preschool crafts as it is important to have all the ingredients for grandma's cranberry sauce. So parents should spend a little time before hand in a craft supply shop gathering together some interesting things. Feathers in red, yellow, orange and brown are perfect for Thanksgiving. In addition, glitter glue, gems, pipe cleaners, coloured construction paper, and thick paint with different sized paint brushes are a few essentials. From your super market gourds and corn can be bought. Lastly from outside your house pinecones and fallen leaves can be collected.

This brings us to the scavenger hunt. Adorned in woolly mitts, scarves and toques troupes outside with the little ones and give each a basket or paper bag to amass some of nature's great effects. A picture list is perfect for preschool age children with drawings of leaves and pinecones, sticks and stones that either mommy or daddy has drawn out by hand. The reward for finding all the things on the list should be a frothy cup of hot cocoa. Nobody loses and it is not a race.

While you're outside you can also bring out large sheets of paper and crayons. Place the leaf of paper over anything including leaves, bark on the trees and even brick pathways and using the side of a crayon begin rubbing. The crayon will pick up the pattern on the paper. These rubbings can be used to wrap presents at Christmas or used to make a collage.

There are many variations of turkey crafts for children to do. There are the pinecone turkeys, paper cup turkeys, hand turkeys and more. Pinecone turkeys are quite simple. If you gathered up enough pinecones these can be used as take home place settings. Your guests will love it. Using a pinecone glue feathers at the back of the turkey googly eyes at the front and decorate with beaks and wings. Mom or Dad may need to help as the items stick best to the pinecone if a hot glue gun is used. The feathers can be dipped in glue and then in glitter for those who love sparkles. A paper cup turkey is similar except that instead of a pinecone body you use a paper cup. And a hand turkey is made by tracing out your little ones hand and allowing them to color and decorate them to look like turkeys.

Gourds can also be painted and used for place settings. Bring out the paint and glitter and just let them go wild. A beak and wings made of paper can be added later if one likes.

Sticks, leaves and corn can be painted in fall colours and then arranged in the center of the table. Your children will have fun with all these crafts as they are helping mom and dad set up for Thanksgiving.

After all the crafts are done preschoolers love to set tables. So let them arrange their master pieces on the table, put out the napkins, the cutlery and the glasses. They will feel very big and proud.

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