3 Thanksgiving Crafts & Activities for Kids

By: Rachel McFall of @allerGenefriendly

Thanksgiving is a time to connect with the ones you love and what better way than by having some fun crafts and games to play with your kids! For fellow allergy parents, “food” centric holidays can be a challenge, but allergy-friendly treats and crafts are the perfect way to include everyone in the holiday festivities.

I’ve teamed up with YumEarth to bring you 3 easy and fun Thanksgiving activities for kids!

1. Giggles Gratitude Game

This Thanksgiving game will have the whole table conversing and feeling uplifted when it’s through. It’s a game that everyone wins and you only need two things!

Materials:

• YumEarth Giggles (1 snack pack per player)
• Giggles Gratitude Game Print Outs (1 per player OR 1 group copy)

How to Play:

1. Each player will receive a package of YumEarth Giggles and one Giggle Gratitude Game print out.
2. Players will draw a Giggle from the bag without looking.
3. Next, look at the print out to see what gratitude category matches the color of the Giggle.
4. The player will say, “I am grateful for _____.” and fill in the blank with their answer.
5. Take turns drawing Giggles and sharing what you’re most grateful for until all of the Giggles have been drawn from the bags.

One of the best things about the Giggles Gratitude Game is that it can be adjusted to fit your specific needs. Players can eat the Giggles as they go, open up another bag to continue the game, or even use a large bag of Giggles that are placed in a bowl to be passed around the table. Teachers can even use it in the classroom since YumEarth’s Giggles are classroom safe.The opportunities are endless, just like our gratitude should be!

2. Thanksgiving Candy Turkey Craft

This is another Thanksgiving craft that is great because of its versatility. These adorable candy turkeys can be used as place markers for the Thanksgiving table or as “thank you” gifts to pass out as your guests head home for their post-meal naps. As a busy parent who always has plenty to do, I personally suggest it as an easy craft to keep the kids entertained while the adults are cooking or doing the never-ending mound of dishes.

*The following materials and instructions are for one individual turkey.

Materials:

• YumEarth Giggles
• Brown tulle (cut 8 inches)
• 1 Brown pipe cleaner
• 1 Orange pipe cleaner (cut into five 2 inch pieces)
• 2 Googly eyes
• Hot glue gun

How To:

1. To make the turkey’s head & neck, roll the brown pipe cleaner until you have about 3 inches left straight.
2. Pour approximately ¼ cup of Giggles into the brown tulle and wrap it closed with the straight part of the brown pipe cleaner.
3. Next, fold a piece of orange pipe cleaner in half and wrap it through the spiraled turkey head for the beak.
4. Use the hot glue gun to glue the two googly eyes onto the turkey head.
5. Fold an orange pipe cleaner piece in half and wrap it around the end of a second orange pipe cleaner piece. This will make the turkey’s leg and foot. Repeat for the other leg and foot.
6. Stick the turkey legs in the tulle and call it done!

3. Turkey Candy Bowl

Growing up, we had a candy dish that was out for every holiday. The candies always rotated with the season, but the bowl was always there. You’d think that us kids would have made ourselves sick, but there was never enough candy in the bowl to do so because my dad always got to it first. This year, we used this craft and YumEarth’s chewy’s to continue the family tradition!

Materials:

• YumEarth chewy’s
• 1 Clear bowl (any size)
• 2 Googly eyes
• Different colors of cardstock paper (we used pieces 5 total)
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Writing utensil

How To:

1. Have the kids trace their hands on the cardstock and then cut them out.
2. Use the hot glue gun to glue the handprints to the back of the bowl.
3. Find a scrap piece of orange paper and cut a triangle out for the beak.
4. Next, hot glue the googly eyes and beak on the front of the bowl.
5. Lastly, fill your adorable turkey with YumEarth Chewy’s and set out to enjoy this November!

Thanksgiving will forever be a challenge for allergy parents. Know that you are not alone and there are other allergy parents and companies like YumEarth supporting you! I hope these activities can bring a bit of relief and joy to your household and even some new family traditions this Thanksgiving season!