This Thanksgiving kids’ table covered in brown paper and full of kid activities will make the adults wish they were sitting at the kids’ table too. Actually, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do your entire Thanksgiving table decor like this. Parents need to concentrate on thankfulness as well, and who doesn’t like a good word search? These activities are fun for everyone!
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This table is part of the Lean into Gratitude: 14 Days of Thankfulness Challenge I am a part of with a number of other bloggers. Read all about it at the end of this post.
Thanksgiving Kids Table Covered in Brown Paper and Full of Kid Activities
There are many components to this kids’ table, so I am going to break it down for you. I will tell you how I did it, but I’ll also add in some alternative options for creating a similar look.
Names on Brown Paper to Mark Place Settings
The first thing I did was cover the tables in brown packaging paper
. Then I made the names that would mark the children’s spots at the table. Do I have this perfect cursive writing? Of course not. Some people do! They will be able to do the writing all on their own with a Sharpie, paints or large marker. For those of with less perfect font capabilities, I will let you know how I accomplished it.
I raided my sister-in-law’s house. She has a Cricut machine
. It’s pretty amazing. She was able to create many components of this flamingo party by using her Cricut. It was simple to download the font Magnolia Sky we wanted from Da Font, and type the names into the Cricut design program. Once the names were in and sized, we let the Cricut do its’ thing on black card stock
.
If you don’t have a Cricut, either do the font yourself in Sharpie
or invite over a talented friend to help.
I Am Thankful For Written on Brown Paper in Sharpie for Thanksgiving
In my mind, this is a more critical component of the table setting. If you know my site, Meaningful Mama, you know that I have a character development series with 52 character traits and loads of lessons for each one. We have one week devoted to thankfulness, and this activity ties in perfectly. Focusing on gratitude is so important all year round, but Thanksgiving gives us a great opportunity to further the discussion. Please visit the bottom of this post to learn more about the 14 Days of Thankfulness challenge and how you can be part of it.
The “I AM THANKFUL FOR” and lines where the kids can write was done in Sharpie. I actually typed out the phrase on the Cricut in the font titled “Moon Flower” and used the negative space as a stencil. Again, I’m sure there are many who can do this writing on their own.
Thanksgiving Activities for Kids’ Table
I added a variety of activities at the table and again used a Cricut made stencil to write stamps
, crayons
, pencils
, word search, and scratch art
. I have linked to all of the products I bought.
The word search is a free printable I created. You can also print out my free 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Give Thanks coloring sheet for the table.
Here are some more great free Thanksgiving printables you can add to the table.
Kids can used the colored pencils or crayons to draw, make a tic-tac-toe game, add a dot game or play Hang Man. You could always add some of these games in Sharpie before the festivities start to encourage play.
Thanksgiving Kids’ Table Covered in Brown Paper and Full of Kid Activities
With so much to do, the kids will be quite occupied while you prepare food, serve food and eat food. Did I mention there would be food? I hope your kids enjoy these activities and especially take some time to focus on gratitude by creating their own thankful list and doing the thankfulness word search.
About the Lean Into Gratitude: 14 Days of Thankfulness in 2018
I would consider myself to be a thankful person and if you look around my blog you know I thoroughly enjoy instilling this value of gratitude in my children. But something I realized this summer was when things are looking good and going my way I am a thankful person.
It usually sounds something like this: Thank God I got a close parking spot in this horrible rain. Thank God I didn’t have to wait 2 hrs for the doctor to see my son. Thank God he slept through the night. Thank God…
But here’s the thing I don’t just want to filled with joy and gratitude when things are good because as you know in motherhood good can turn to worse–in like SECONDS.
I want to be the kind of person that finds beauty and blessings in the mundane tasks of life and is not swayed by her emotions with every passing situation.
I want to find joy in the everyday drudgery of changing diapers, washing dishes for the 50th time in one day. As I sit in holiday traffic or stir the pot of soup for kids who will turn up their nose when they see the veggies.
I don’t need to be Maria Von Trapp in Sound of Music and sing and smile my way through every situation because we are not talking about being fake here but I do want to learn to practice gratitude because it always gives birth to deep seeded joy that’s rooted in His love.
Well, I have good news, we can take baby steps together towards being gratitude seekers!
We are constantly surrounded by small miracles. Let’s open our eyes and embrace them.
An Easy Way to Join in the Lean Into Gratitude: A 14 Day Journey of Thankfulness
It’s so easy to complain, grumble, or be dissatisfied with our given situation, our body, our home, our kids, our food, our job, our significant other, our parents, our school, our friends, and life as we know it.
In an effort to be less of that, and to focus our day on the joy and beauty that surrounds us, we are kicking off a 14 Day Lean Into Gratitude Journey. I want to challenge myself, my family, and you, to be more aware of the blessings that surround us each day.
This year we are kicking off this challenge Lean Into Gratitude: A 14 Day Journey of Thankfulness with 5 amazing bloggers: Inspired by Family blog, Christ Centered Mama blog, Eileen Kloff blog , Meaningful Mama and Real Nutritious Living blog. Each week one of us will encourage you to lean into gratitude.
It’s really easy to follow along this challenge.
- Just ask to join our Facebook page and in our group we will give you prompts, ideas, crafts, recipes to encourage you to go against the tendency to find fault in life.
That’s it! Let’s be gratitude seekers together.
Gratitude always gives birth to joy!
