Thanksgiving Activities for Toddlers
Thanksgiving brings families of all sizes together. In many households, the ladies bustle around the kitchen preparing a bountiful feast for loved ones and the men huddle in front of television watching football. Older children and teenagers fend for themselves, but toddlers are another story. Toddlers need attention and direction from parents and guardians. Keeping these youngsters busy helps everyone enjoy this holiday much more.Coloring books or sheetsLittle ones love to color. Stores like “Everything’s a Dollar” stock coloring books and crayons and for a few dollars, several coloring books and boxes of crayons can be toted to the host’s home, keeping the little boys and girls busy. If spending money is not an option, a plethora of Internet sites make free printable coloring sheets available. One such site,puffpeople.org, offers multiple Thanksgiving coloring pages to be printed off, colored, and posted on grandma’s refrigerator. Sometimes children color quickly, only doodling, and then come looking for something else to keep them busy. Encourage the tykes to treat the pages as artwork, posting all of the children’s masterpieces on the refrigerator door for an art show later in the day.Challenge the older siblings to help compile some of these same color pages into a book. Punch holes in the top left, tie them together with a bit of yarn, and the Thanksgiving keepsake makes a great gift for a seldom seen loved one.PlacematAfter coloring printable pages, glue them to large pieces of orange, yellow, and brown construction paper. When the glue dries, safely store the papers away from food spills. Before next Thanksgiving rolls around, drop these “placemats” off at a local printing shop and request the employees laminate the Thanksgiving crafts. On Thanksgiving Day, drag these out of your closet and use them as your placemats at each table setting.BooksChildren love to cuddle up on a loved one’s lap and get lost in a good book. Be sure to pack stories with colorful illustrations. With a grownups help, several sites online post online books for the kids to enjoy. For instance at Bookrix.com, one can read “Scarecrows Have Feelings Too.” With a simple click of the mouse, the pages turn displaying beautiful illustrations and the story teaches a moral lesson as well.With a bit of planning and some responsible oversight, the Thanksgiving celebration can be a joy to everyone, even the “some times hard to keep busy and entertain” toddler.
