Treat kids, family to a fun,
active Thanksgiving

In recent years, Thanksgiving is almost as much about the couch potato as it is the turkey. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans spend an average of 1.2 hours eating and drinking on Thanksgiving Day and 3.7 hours in front of the TV.

What’s even more disheartening is that less than 45 percent of people spend an average of 2.5 hours socializing with their loved ones on a day set aside to remember our blessings.

This holiday, build in some quality family time away from the TV and with the youngest members of your family. Recruit the teens in your clan to help lead the younger ones in some of these fun, interactive Thanksgiving and wild turkey-themed activities.

Plus, Grandma might appreciate an empty kitchen, without taste-testers and constant cries of “When’s dinner gonna be ready?”

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft
Photo by Matt Lindler

TINY PINECONE TOMS

No danger in anyone biting into these prickly turkeys. Make a flock to decorate the dinner table.

You’ll need:

Let the fun begin

  1. For each turkey, cut out a yellow beak and a red snood from felt.
  2. Glue the beak, snood and a pair of googly eyes onto a pom-pom to make the turkey’s head.
  3. Glue the pom-pom head to the tip of the pinecone. Allow the glue to dry.
  4. Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the turkey’s pinecone body, starting from the top and twisting it together a few times on the underside. Separate the ends of the pipe cleaner (below the twists) and bend each tip into a three-toed foot.
  5. For the turkey’s tail, individually wrap 3 or 4 pipe cleaners around the back of the pinecone, starting from the underside and twisting them together a few times on the top of the pinecone to secure them. Then loop both ends of each pipe cleaner to shape the tail feathers.
Thanksgiving Turkey Craft
Photo by Matt Lindler

DRINKING STRAW TURKEY CALL

According to JAKES Program Manager Mandy Harling, this activity is a favorite among kids and school groups who visit the Wild Turkey Center in Edgefield, S.C.

You’ll need (for each call):

Let the fun begin

  1. On one end of the yarn, tie a big, chubby knot. Slide two beads onto the yarn, then tie a chubby knot at the other end. The knots should be big enough so the beads cannot slide off the yarn.
  2. Split the beads apart; pinch the middle of the yarn and hold it up. The yarn will be folded in half, with one bead on each end.
  3. Slide two beads on the top of the yarn—both sides of yarn go into the bead. Slide the two top beads down to the other beads.
  4. Slide the top bead up a few inches, creating a gap between two pieces of the yarn.
  5. Place the straw between the two pieces of yarn and slide the top bead back down to pinch the straw in place. Tie a knot on top of the very top bead to hold the straw in place.
  6. Slide the shaft of a feather through the top two beads to decorate and help hold the straw in place.
  7. Start calling! Place one end of the straw on the inner edge of your lips, halfway between the front of your lips and the corner of your mouth. Cup your hands over the end of the call to create a kind of echo chamber for the sound. Lightly pinch the straw between your lips and suck on the straw in little, short breaths. — Karen Lee

WANT MORE? > Check out this month's feature story for even more fun Thanksgiving Turkey Crafts