For the month of November, here is a jump start to your theme dinner journey. Thanksgiving is a great holiday that involves yummy food, hordes of friends and family and often a bit of stress. Throw a few kids into the mix and you sometimes wish the Holiday to be done before it begins!
Let's skip all that drama, remember what makes it fun and meaningful and set the kids in action to help. Following is a road map to create your own Thanksgiving Theme Dinner.
Thanksgiving Meal Planning
The planning for your Thanksgiving dinner is set to begin a few days before Thanksgiving. However, you can break up these tasks to best fit your schedule during the month. Basically, you need 5-6 evenings set aside to put the pieces together for your final dinner on Thanksgiving. Primarily, your schedule should coincide with available time and the attention span of your children. Don't worry, many of the activities are designed to get your kids out of your hair while you prepare dinner etc.
This can be done on any level of intricacy. Below are the items you'll need to use throughout the week (or during your allotted planning period) and for your actual dinner on Thanksgiving. The instructions to use these items are broken down into 5 days of dinner activities. You can create these props and recipes using different techniques based on the age/abilities of your children.
As another plus, the crafts you will prepare can easily be packed for travel!
Don't forget, the main goal of hosting theme dinners is to find fun things to do with your family and learn a little in the process!
Recipes / Food
Turkey or ham roll-ups
Shaped breadsticks
Mashed Cauliflower 'potatoes'
Sweet Potato Fries
Gravy
Red Ants on a Log
Fruit Juice Ice Cubes
Pies with Thanksgiving shaped crust
Entertainment
Make-Your-Own Thanksgiving Story
Bowl of Thankfullness Game
Round Table Story
Book or Movie
Thanksgiving Props
Nametags
Cornucopia (made from playdough or paper mache)
Placemats on Posterboard (option to laminate with wax paper)
Napkin Rings (made from paper towel rolls)
Peripherals
Step-By-Step Guide to Your Thanksgiving Dinner
Below, we've listed the steps to hosting a Thanksgiving dinner filled with interactive fun, games, learning and tasty food. Keep in mind, you can tailor any of the activities to fit all ages of children from toddlers to teens.
Day One: Brainstorm & Prepare
On your first evening, come to the table with paper, pen and a folder to keep organized. This is the time to determine which craft techniques you will use, who is responsible for getting certain tasks completed, your entertainment choices and which food items to present. (It is useful to have the Task Worksheet on hand to jot down your choices and each family members responsibilities.)
Based on the ages of your kids (and your energy level!), decide which crafts you will do. You don't have to make all the props for your table and the ones you do choose can be made using the less arduous method. Or, if you and the kids are super motivated, go for it!! Add some of your own ideas too. If you're having trouble coming to a consensus on what to pick, put each person's favorite choices into a bowl and draw a set number. Once that is done, jot down which participant will be in charge of which item. Of course, everyone can do more than one.
Follow the same method to determine your Thanksgiving dinner menu. Kids are much more willing to eat foods if they play a part in the decision and creation. (However, don't feel guilty if you keep mum on the mashed cauliflower and later sneak them into the mashed potatoes! If you don't add too much, they'll never know they're getting an extra dose of veggies.)
Pick out a Thanksgiving dinner activity to do: Ad-Lib Story, Thankfulness Bowl or Round Table Story.
Write out your dinner list of expected guests.
Day Two: Create Cornucopia
Before you prepare dinner, gather your helpers and your cornucopia craft supplies. If you have kids of multiple ages and abilities, you can always do both types or have the eldest help the youngest. This is true for any of the craft ideas.
If you have chosen to do paper-mache, have your helpers rip strips of newspaper and blow up balloons of various sizes and shapes (from plum size to small pumpkin size) while you create the paste (2 parts water to 1 part flour). Lay out newspaper or plastic tablecloth (great dollar store buy) and have the kids cover the balloons with the strips of newspaper dipped in paste. Get dinner together while they're occupied.
To make homemade clay cornucopia, after laying out newspaper, have the kids shape the dough into cornucopia objects — fruits, gourds, etc. When you serve dinner, bake the clay for 45 minutes at 250 degrees.
Set the shapes out to dry overnight.
Decide the colors for your placemats that you will make on Day 3. You can use poster board cut into placemat sizes or tape two pieces of 8 ½ x 11 sheets together.
Clay Recipe:
2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water, 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil.
Mix dry ingredients first then slowly add liquid and mix.
Add food coloring if you like or you can paint the objects later.
Day Three: Placemats & Thankful Thoughts
Before dinner, lay out your chosen placemat paper with supplies. Make sure you have one placemat per expected guest plus one or two extra. This might mean you will have to jump in on the fun!! If you have time, try to personalize the placemats a bit for each guest.
To make the turkey handprint placemat, you will need construction paper, brown fingerpaint, paintbrushes, a black pen and your kids' hands! Paint hands brown and "stamp" them onto the placemat so that the thumb sticks out like the turkey neck and the other fingers make up the "feathers." Draw on eyes and legs with your black pen (or paint). While you make that evening's dinner, let your kids continue to decorate their turkey placemats — add feathers, glue tissue paper to look like feathers, paint feathers, or anything else to spice it up.
For the collage placemats, while you make dinner, have the kids cut out pictures and words from old magazines that reflect Thanksgiving thoughts. Perhaps they can cut out things for which they are thankful. Then, have them glue their cutouts onto their placemats.
During dinner, think up thankful thoughts and add them to the placemats in any empty spaces. If your children can write, let them jot down what you come up with.
HINT: To better preserve the placemats, you can laminate them with wax paper or wrap plastic wrap over the front, taping it at the back.
Day Four: Nametags & Napkin Rings
By now you should have a good idea of your guest list. If you want to keep it simple, write each name on a folded piece of paper to sit at each place setting. Or, get on the internet and research some fun/funky nametag ideas. Whatever method you choose, once you have created the nametag, you will need to leave a space for guests to write in information during the Thanksgiving dinner. The information they write will be for the game you have chosen to do.
While you prepare dinner this evening, have the kids paint the cornucopia you created earlier. If you end up with a purple pumpkin and pink winter squash, don't fret. This dinner should have your own personality to it! Have fun with it!
During dinner, explain a little of what Thanksgiving is about. Perhaps you could read an appropriate book or watch a movie after you eat. Relax some together before the big day!!
