Kids love to help in the kitchen! These Thanksgiving Food Crafts are fun to make together!
Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats
Materials Needed: Chocolate Bark, Large Marshmallows, Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Craft Sticks (or a plastic spoon for the kids to dip/turn the marshmallows and cookies), Yellow Decorator’s Icing Tube, and Waxed Paper.
Melt the chocolate bark according to package directions. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Older children can dip the cookies, but assist younger ones as the melted chocolate can be hot. Place a cookie in the chocolate and turn with a craft stick or spoon the chocolate over the cookie until covered. Carefully place on waxed paper to dry. Next, have the children dip a marshmallow in the chocolate and turn to coat. Remove the marshmallow and set it on top of the coated chocolate cookie. When both are dry (chocolate will no longer be shiny), add a yellow square (with the tube icing) to the marshmallow for the Pilgrim’s hat buckle.
Fudge Striped Turkeys
Materials Needed: Chocolate Bark, Fudge Striped Cookies, Large Marshmallows, Candy Corn, Waxed Paper, and Decorations for the Eyes, Nose, and Wattle.
Melt the chocolate bark according to package directions. Each turkey will use two fudge striped cookies. Lay one cookie on waxed paper (striped side down) and “glue” the 2nd cookie (striped side facing forward) with the melted chocolate bark (*tip – cut the bottom of the second cookie with a sharp knife (adult only) just so that the edge is straight. It adheres to the bottom cookie better.) Have the children coat a large marshmallow in the melted chocolate (assist younger children and make sure the chocolate isn’t too hot for children to use.) Set the marshmallow on top of the bottom cookie to resemble the turkey’s body. The children can dip the white tips of the candy corn in the melted chocolate and “glue” to the 2nd cookie, “fan style,” to resemble the turkey’s feathers (as indicated in the photo above). Use decorations for the turkey’s eyes, nose, and wattle (we used decorator balls and put them on before the coating on the marshmallow had set completely.)
Sandwich Turkey Pops
Materials Needed: One Craft Stick per Turkey Pop, Vanilla Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Bark (use as “glue”), Candy Corn, and Red Decorations for the Turkey’s Wattle.
Have the children gently take apart the vanilla sandwich cookie halves. Melt the chocolate bark according to package directions. Let the children dip the tips of the candy corn pieces in the chocolate bark and arrange “fan style” on one of the cookies halves. Let the chocolate bark dry and it will act as glue for the candy pieces. Dip the tip of the craft stick in the chocolate and spread around the edges of the 2nd cookie half. Have the children place the craft stick on one of the cookie halves and then put the cookie sandwich back together. Allow time for the chocolate to set all pieces together. When dry, the children can add facial features to their cookie pop. We use the white tip of candy corn pieces for the eyes, the yellow part for the nose, and a red decorator’s ball for the turkey’s wattle. Use the chocolate bark again to glue all the facial pieces on. When finished, wrap the turkey in plastic wrap and tie with a pretty fall ribbon.
Parent and Child Hand Print Turkeys
Materials Needed: White Paper, Brown and Red Tempera Paint, Permanent Black Marker, Craft Leaves, and White Crayon to “Dot” the Turkey’s Eyes.
This is a fun project for a “take-home” family craft. We asked our parents to send back to school to display during November. Each family can have as many hand prints as they’d like to make on the paper. Some of our families did several pages in different colors, framed them, and sent them back. It’s another way to save school memories and ask parents to participate.
Have the parent and child make hand prints from the brown tempera paint. The red tempera can be applied with a q-tip for the turkey’s wattle. When the hand print is dry, use a permanent marker to make the turkey’s eyes and dot the center with white chalk/crayon. Have the families add leaves, candy pieces, construction paper cut-outs, etc. to decorate the hand print page(s).
Here’s to making Thanksgiving memories with our kids and family! For more fun ideas see Preschool and Kindergarten Themes for Active Learning and Play!