Activities for Toddlers on Thanksgiving
It can be a tough to do everything you need to do for Thanksgiving dinner and keep toddlers entertained. Toddlers need a constant eye and they have short attention spans, so the best way to keep them busy and safe is to have them close by. So activities for them to do in the kitchen alongside you are your best bet.Coloring Books-Have a pile of brand new coloring books and crayons stacked on the table while you are cooking. If you can't find Thanksgiving themed coloring books, look forprintablesonline. There are many free ones which will work for this age level.Place mats and place cards-You can have your little ones color a piece of construction paper to use as a place mat. If they are really into coloring, let them do one for each place setting. They can also color place cards which you've already written the guests name on. Don't worry too much if they are just "scribbling" on them. Your family and friends will love it!Books-There are a lot of really good Thanksgiving books for toddlers out there. Find a few that they can look through while you're prepping dinner. Granted, at this age, this might be a ten minute interlude but ten minutes is enough to get one small task done."Helping" with the meal-Even small people can help with the meal. You can have them stir cold things for you. They can drop cups of food you've already measured into mixing bowls. While this doesn't seem like a huge deal to us, to a toddler, this is being a big kid and cooking!Set the Table-Toddler can certainly help you set the table. While you don't want their help with the fine crystal but they can help with silverware. And again, this will be a small thing to us but a huge thing for them. They'll be a "big kid" and feel so proud.If worse comes to worst-Don't feel guilty if they watch an hour or so of television while you're busy. That's really okay! An hour of television won't hurt anyone! And what little person doesn't love a good parade!Don't Forget-When you need to do things where it's impossible to keep an eye on the little ones, employ the help of others if at all possible. Older children can help entertain smaller ones when you are getting the meal prepared. The older children can help with any of the activities you have planned.
You might ask an adult to take the small ones out for a walk, too. They'll love that, too. This is a good way to bond as a family, if everyone helps out and what a great way to be thankful for each other on Thanksgiving.
