3 Ways to Make Thanksgiving Memorable and Meaningful for Kids

I am all about putting some meaning into the holidays so the kids know the reason behind why we do things. And with Thanksgiving coming up in a few days, I wanted to incorporate some new ideas. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I love going to Pinterest for craft ideas I can implement and make my own.

Christine St.Vil - WBAL Thanksgiving segmentYesterday morning, I had the pleasure of heading back to WBAL, where I got to share these fun craft ideas on how to make Thanksgiving memorable and meaningful for kids. I always have such a great time with this studio and yesterday was no different. You can check out the full segment below. You can check out the full segment below.

The Thanksgiving Tree Centerpiece

Christine St.Vil - Thanksgiving centerpiece

Build your own giving tree centerpiece. This centerpiece is something that we will be able to build onto year after year. I’m going to have each of the kids add their names to the back of their leaves as well as the date. The best part? It’s super easy and it really forced the kids to think about what they have to be grateful for.

You can find similar instructions to make your own centerpiece here (shout out to my girl MimiCuteLips for hooking me up with these awesome leaves for our tree – she is the DIY ninja!).

Make drinks fun

MomsNCharge - Thanksgiving mason jars craft

Decorate a few large mason jars in the spirit of the holidays! When it comes to filling up the jar, choose beverages that you won’t feel guilty about later. What my kids love about these jars are they are easy to decorate for the holidays. We can get inexpensive puff stickers at our local craft store and call it a day.

Check out Pinterest for a ton of ideas on fun ways to decorate your mason jars while giving thanks.

Turkey Cupcakes

Turkey cupcakes - momsncharge

Satiate even the pickiest of palettes with turkey cupcakes. Who doesn’t love cupcakes? And what kid doesn’t want to help decorate them to look like turkeys? I’m no pastry chef, but these cupcakes are super easy even for the mom who has no DIY skills. LOL. And you know I like to create teachable moments as a homeschool mom. So each of the kids were responsible for pulling out/separating their own colors. And then they had to count how many of each colored M&M would go on each cupcake. To them it was just fun, to me it was learning patterns, colors and math skills.

You can find similar directions for decorating your turkey cupcakes here.

Here is the full segment I did with WBAL News Channel 11 in Baltimore. I also shared it live on Periscope so if you missed it, you can catch the replay here which also shows a little of what goes on behind-the-scenes during a live segment.


What are some ways you’re making Thanksgiving memorable and meaningful with your kids?

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4 Comments

  • T.; Espinoza
    November 23, 2015 at 5:11 PM

    YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS! Love it! I’m so glad you had time to talk about the Moms ‘n Charge mission for a bit. Get it girl! WERK! Also, you looked amazeballs.
    T.; Espinoza would like you to check out…The Hyundai Genesis is My New BooMy Profile

    • Christine St.Vil
      November 23, 2015 at 8:29 PM

      LOL Thanks boo! I am too because that usually doesn’t happen. But I love doing these segments with Jennifer and her WBAL team 🙂

  • MJ
    November 23, 2015 at 8:10 PM

    these are great crafts for Thanksgiving. And yes to the cupcakes. The girls and I just did our annual Operation Christmas Child charity contribution. Now we are collecting canned goods for the needy. This is how we give thanks by blessings others. I’ll do a few crafts with Z and possibly some centerpieces.

    • Christine St.Vil
      November 23, 2015 at 8:31 PM

      Thanks MJ! I always pray with my kids that we will be a blessing to others in everything we say and do. That is so awesome that you do that annual charity (I’ll have to look into that). Our church just did the Thanksgiving food drive and now we are gearing up to get some toys for the toy drive.

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