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This week's Craft of the Week features a Thanksgiving Placemat.  This can easily be done with children who are 3-4 years old and older.   The child will cut out, glue, and place her plate, fork, napkin, cup etc... on the large piece of construction paper.  For added fun and a lesson in the food groups the kids can be encourage to draw their Thanksgiving dinner on the cut out plate before gluing it down.

Including the child's name, date and any other creative ideas is a sure way to further personalize this Thanksgiving Placemat.

What you Need

• I large sheet of construction paper
• Pencil
• Construction paper to cut out dinner items
• White craft glue or a glue stick
• Scissors
• Magic markers
• Laminate to cover the placemat when it's finished

What You Do:

1. Have the child decide where she wants to place her dinner items.  You might want to gently sketch or mark where this will be on the large piece of construction paper.
2. Draw and cut out the items to be included on the placemat.   Then glue them to the large sheet of construction paper.  Do all decorating of the items BEFORE gluing them down.
3. Do any writing or any other decorating before laminating the placemat. This can include drawings of favorite people who might at dinner, the date, the child's name etc...

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Crafts for Thanksgiving Day
(Holiday Crafts for Kids)

by Kathy Ross, Sharon Lane Holm (Illustrator)
Twenty fun craft projects, from a kitchen magnet made out of corn kernels to a festive pumpkin centerpiece for the Thanksgiving meal, help children celebrate turkey day

Crafts to Make in the Fall
(Crafts for All Seasons)
by Kathy Ross, Vicky Enright

see the interview with Kathy
see a FREE craft from this book
Handprint Magnets
Featuring symbols of the fall season, this book includes 29 craft projects--including a changing tree puppet, a school bus picture frame, a soft sculpture pumpkin, a Columbus Day hat, and cornucopia place cards. Full color.

175 Easy-To-Do Thanksgiving Crafts
by Sharon Dunn Umnik

Here's a cornucopia of Thanksgiving Day crafts that offers children hours of creative fun. Fanciful turkeys, wreaths, Pilgrims, garlands, and holiday-table accessories are just some of the crafts that reflect the autumn season and this most bountiful of holidays. Full-color photographs.