by Joan Collins

Created on: November 10, 2009   Last Updated: January 08, 2010

Preschoolers enjoy making things.  Their love of arts and crafts can be useful when you are entertaining the little ones during the  Thanksgiving holiday.  You'll have fun too as you help your preschoolers about the holiday while working with them on fun crafts.

Preschoolers like to cut and paste. Follow this link to a down loadable-paper craft. This little pilgrim girl can be colored, cut out and constructed with a little help from you. She will be a little lonely so be sure to download this

turkey. It is already colorful. It just needs to be cut out and put together.

Thankfulness book: Punch holes in the side of several sheets of construction paper. Let your child lace them with ribbon and make a Thankfulness book. On each page, let your child glue a picture of someone or something he or she is thankful for and then have your child dictate what they want each page to say while you write down the words.

Home-made butter: Let your preschooler make a craft that can be used on the dinner table.  Put a little salt and whipping cream in a baby food jar and seal it tightly. Make butter by sitting on the floor across from your child and roll it back and forth.

Pie crust treats: Roll out a pie crust. Let your child press cookie cutters into the dough. Help them remove the shapes and add them to a cookie sheet. Lightly butter each shape and sprinkle each one with sugar and cinnamon Bake them at the same temperature you would bake the pie crust for about ten to fifteen minutes. Cool them before you eat them.

Turkey: Cut out a turkey shape out of construction paper. Use paint sample cards from the store to create the feathers. For complete directions, check out this YouTube video.

Iced turkeys: Bake turkey-shaped cookies. Put colorful frosting in a plastic bag and cut a small hole in the bottom. Let your little one decorate the the feathers and face of the turkey. You can do the same thing with pilgrims and Native Americans.

Headdress: Cut out a strip of paper that will fit comfortably around your child's head. Let your child cut feathers out of colorful construction paper and glue it to one side of the paper strip. Help them fasten it on their head.

For fun crafts, go to Google and enter the words Thanksgiving clip art. Copy some of the images. Some will be black and white and can be colored. Others can be used for place cards or posters. Let your child choose which clip art he or she wants and copy it. Thanksgiving Day cards can be created using the pictures too!

Use your creative mind to make arts and crafts and enjoy this season with your toddler. You'll be thankful that you did!

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