Walking in to my granny’s house, even in my late 30s, seeing that little round wooden table pushed in the corner takes me back to my childhood and reminds me of so many Thanksgiving meals. That little round, wooden table was where my uncles, my sister and I spent every Thanksgiving; the kids table.
We long dreamt of graduating from that table, but now that we have, oh how I miss the fun we had back then. Getting to play and joke around in our own space was so much fun and now I love watching my girls and their cousins do the same. To some a kids table doesn’t seem necessary. Let everyone sit together they say; but, to me that kids table allowed for some great bonding, memories and fun.
You don’t have to have fancy decorations to make your kids table fun. A few pumpkins, some activity place mats or even butcher paper will satisfy the little ones in your family. Use rinsed out food cans or jars for crayon and marker holders. You can find great activity place mats or tablecloths at local craft stores or even Amazon and Target. Don’t want to spend money on an activity place mat? You can make your own. Get some easel or butcher paper and draw activities on it. You could make a crossword puzzle with Thanksgiving words, a tic tac toe board with pumpkins or acorns as your play pieces.
You could use painter's tape to make various sized lines to measure with household items, or use Thanksgiving stickers to create a matching game where kids will match already placed stickers on the table. Want to practice letter and number recognition? Use dot stickers with letters and numbers written on them to match with ones written on the paper. Kids would even love to just use the paper for free drawing space. Place a pumpkin in the middle of table for kids to write what they are thankful for!
Complete a scavenger hunt with adult relatives while waiting for food to finish up. Want a sensory activity? Gather a plate for each child and place brown and orange play dough in the center and then provide “accessories” on the table or each plate to allow them to create their own turkey or pumpkin.
This could be items such as pipe cleaners, googly eyes, sequins, craft pom poms, or even leaves, sticks and acorns from outside.
Have some older kids at your table? Make your own Left-Right-Center game. Grab some blank dice at the Dollar Tree or craft store and on the sides write L, R, C and a dot. Then grab some acorns, small pumpkins or even candy corn to use as the game pieces. This will be a game adults will probably even want to join in on. For some shape practice, cut out a variety of shapes and use to make turkeys with paper plates. With a few activities at your kids table this year, you may even be begging the adults to go back to the adult table!
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"Seeing that little round wooden table pushed in the corner takes me back to my childhood and reminds me of so many Thanksgiving meals."