Kid Friendly Thanksgiving Ideas
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Regardless of how you will be celebrating Thanksgiving this year, there is likely the hope that you will be able to sit and have a nice dinner. Well, with little kids in the mix and fewer family members around to wrangle them, that will be a hard goal to accomplish for two reasons - your time to cook said dinner will be limited and children struggle sitting at the table for a lengthy meal. So let’s break that down and address both issues
How do you keep kids busy on Thanksgiving?
Involve them in the kitchen
Of course this is only an option for certain ages, but my children instinctively take an interest in what I am doing. I always try to foster that interest when I can, so my kids have spent a lot of time baking with me.
Involving them in the cooking of Thanksgiving dinner is another great way to show them gratitude. Odds are they will not have the patience to stay and cook with you all day. At dinnertime, make sure to mention that you spent the whole day cooking and the family should be grateful that you took that time to make them a delicious meal.
I love using kitchen towers for small kids so that they can be countertop height.
Give them a ‘Thanksgiving job’
This could work for many ages. My 4yo loves to be assigned duties, so I often give him simple tasks while I cook. Things like ‘count out X number’ of napkins is not only helpful but also a learning activity.
If your little one is too young for an actual job, you can turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (or a rerun this year), and tell them to yell anytime they see a certain color or object. Praise them when they do it, and then give them another thing to look for. Should buy you a little time.
Assign a photographer
My kids jump when I allow them to use my phone as a camera. (Just make sure that you have a sturdy case) Or you could gift your children small, affordable cameras on Thanksgiving and tell them it is their job to take pictures for everyone who can’t be there today. A gift + a responsibility = quiet time.
Swap child care duties with your partner
If you’re not hosting like usual, you will be strapped for childcare while cooking. Whether you will be the cooking partner or the partner overseeing the small people, swap every few hours. Doing one thing endlessly is mentally and physically exhausting. Even a short break from each of those activities is likely to rejuvenate you for the final stretch.
Facetime dates
Schedule Facetime dates with your family throughout the day. My kids love to take their grandparents on tours of our house. They will run around and show them any changes made to their room, big messes, the bathroom, really anything.
Set up a Thanksgiving game or crafts
This is a bit heavy on the prep work, but if you have kids who will sit quietly for an extended period to do a puzzle or create something, it will be worth it.
Set up simple crafts like making a turkey hat from construction paper. Play a bunch of Thanksgiving kids videos that you can find from a simple YouTube search. Or if you have someone who is willing to be the master of ceremonies, host a kids Thanksgiving Olympics with a popcorn relay, knock down the turkeys, and a fall scavenger hunt. Hold a medal ceremony and have each child thank someone or say something for which they are grateful in their speeches.
How do you get kids to stay at the table?
Make traditional foods kid friendly
None of my kids will pick something foreign up and try it without coaxing. But, I have found that if you can tweak some foods that might not be initially desirable, like stuffing for example, into a format that they find fun or funny, your chances of ingestion increase.
This year (at our early socially distanced Thanksgiving), I made the kids ‘stuffin muffins’ instead of just a pile of brown stuff on their plate. I didn’t get the standing ovation I would have loved, but they at least tried it! Plus, it was incredibly easy - I just made the boxed stuffing according to the directions, added an egg and baked.
In addition to that, you could try using cookie cutters to make sliced turkey into shapes or jam some traditional foods into a waffle cone and example the concept of a cornucopia to your kids.
Kraft Paper Table Cloth
Kraft paper is a game changer. First, you can draw on it. So scrap the place cards, just write everyone’s name on the table. This is great for kids. Have a box of fresh crayons waiting for them at their seat, and let them go to town.
And secondly, clean up is easy - just roll it up and toss it.
Printable Placemats + Coloring Pages
If kraft paper isn’t an option, prep some printables to keep the little ones entertained. Here are a few of my favorite freebies:
Have them help set the table
Lately my kids have been eager to help set the table. It could just be coincidence, but they seem to be really excited to be seated at the table when they have placed the napkins. They are also more likely to start conversations, usually about said napkins, and stay at the table with us a bit longer. You could always stroke their ego a bit by saying how much you enjoy their placement.
Kids table
If you’ve got enough older kids, just embrace the full blown kids table. Eliminate the rules, have some printables, and let them go wild.
Make it a contest
If you use kraft paper, challenge everyone to draw their best turkey. Let the chef of the day choose the winner.
Or there are always the classics - quiet game, staring contests, no laughing contest, first to say the word turkey loses, etc. My kids love to see us get silly, so this will leave us all rolling in laughter.
I know that it can be hard to count your blessings in the midst of holiday chaos, but if it all seems too much, take a step back. Look at the chaos that you longed for, and embrace it. Maybe your cranberry sauce won’t make it to the table, but your family will. And that is enough.
Happy Thanksgiving!
