We absolutely love Fall, Thanksgiving, and gathering with our friends and family each year! One thing I really enjoy is coming up with creative additions to our holiday celebration. Something fun for families to consider adding into their own tradition is a festive kids' table! I still remember being a child and complaining about sitting at the “little table” with all of my cousins, but I’m sure we would have loved it if it had been set up in an inviting and engaging way.
A simple idea is to create a Fall/Thanksgiving Day-themed Letter Match activity. This is a great option because it only costs a few dollars, it takes 5 minutes of prep, and it doubles as table décor. The only supplies you need are paper/felt cutouts, Thanksgiving stickers, clothespins and a Sharpie.
I found leaf cutouts at the dollar store, but if for some reason you can’t locate any, just cut out some leaves from construction paper. Take your Thanksgiving stickers and attach one to each of the leaves. I tried to make sure that I chose stickers of objects that had a clear name and beginning letter sound.
Next, attach a clothespin to each of the leaves at the “stem point”.
Once they are connected, use a Sharpie to add the beginning letter that corresponds to the sticker for that leaf
Disconnect all of the labeled clothespins and stickered leaves. You can place the leaves all over the table and either put the clothespins in a cup, or scatter those around the table as well. You can let the kids freely clip the clothespins to the leaves or even set up a game where the child with the most correct leaves gets a little prize.
The wonderful thing about this activity is that it can also be used with words or even just pictures. For older children, have them match clothespins with the object words written on them. For younger toddlers, place matching stickers on the leaves and tips of the clothespins. However you decided to tailor this activity, it’s a great way to entertain your kids this Thanksgiving or Fall! It’s fun, educational, and good for fine motor skills.
Happy Fall!
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Kid's Table: Letter Leaf Match!