With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it is time to start planning what the menu will look like for the day and what the tablescape will look like to present the feast. For those who do not have small children attending the dinner, entertaining guests is fairly easy. However, when toddlers are involved, they can easily get underfoot if not occupied. As such, it is necessary to have ways to keep toddlers entertained while making Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving is not traditionally a holiday that toddlers look forward to. Outside of watching the parade on television, unless there are other children their age attending dinner, and not necessarily food they enjoy, it is more of an adult holiday to enjoy. Because of this, little ones will need activities to be involved in so that they are not 100 percent reliant on their parents for amusement. And if the right activities are found, toddlers can be enthralled with what they are doing for longer than just a moment or two.
Here are ways to keep toddlers entertained while making Thanksgiving dinner.
6 Cranberry Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are notorious for keeping toddlers entertained for long stretches of time. And a cranberry variety of one is no exception.
All that is needed to create the cranberry sensory bin is one bin to hold the cranberries, one bin to hold water, tools to scoop the cranberries with, and small containers to fill. Not only will toddlers have fun transferring the cranberries into the water and being amazed by the fact that they float, but they can also fill and refill the containers provided to them over and over.
It would not be surprising to find toddlers at this sensory bin for a good hour, maybe more depending upon how many containers and tools are provided to transport the cranberries from the dry bin to the wet one and back again.
5 Jello Dig
For those toddlers who do not mind getting a little messy, a jello dig on Thanksgiving is a fantastic way to keep little ones busy while Thanksgiving dinner is being prepared.
While any Jello can be used to make the mold, to make the dig follow the theme of the day, choosing one that is orange and filling it with harvest items to be excavated will tie the activity to Thanksgiving perfectly. And by giving toddlers different tools to help dig the items out of the Jello will help them to determine which tool works best, thus working their problem-solving skills.
4 Create A Play-Doh Turkey
If there is one thing that toddlers can associate with Thanksgiving, it is the turkey. As such, have them work with different pieces of prepared Play-Doh to create what a turkey looks like.
By working with the Play-Doh pieces, toddlers are in essence, working a 3-D puzzle. And once the puzzle is completed, if toddlers enjoyed themselves, rearranging the pieces for them to start again can be done in a snap, which will entertain them that much longer while the turkey cooks in the oven and the side dishes are prepared.
3 Nature Walk Turkey
A nature walk turkey not only lets toddlers be creative on Thanksgiving but allows them to get some fresh air and a change of scenery in the process.
As the name implies, toddlers will need to take a walk outside, be it in the backyard or around the block to collect items from leaves, twigs, flowers, and the like to attach to a turkey that has been fashioned out of cardboard.
While the project may get a bit messy with the school glue that will be needed to attach everything, while in the process of making the craft, toddlers will be quiet as mice. And once done, they may actually need a nap before dinner depending upon how long the walk was as well.
2 Turkey Donuts
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is centered around making a feast. As such, have toddlers start the day off with a bit of sugar by preparing turkey donuts.
What is needed to create turkey donuts are donuts, Fruit Loops, toothpicks or skewers, and candy or google eyes.
Select the desired number of feathers to make and put the same number of toothpicks into one side of the donut. Then, have toddlers sort the cereal into colors and put one color on each toothpick to create the feathers.
To create these turkeys, a jelly or cream-filled donut may be best to balance out the weight of the "feathers" so that the turkey does not topple over. However, if those are a solid "no" from toddlers, choose a donut that they are known to eat to be able to enjoy before enjoying the holiday feast.
1 Turkey Pom Pom Game
A game that will keep toddlers occupied for a good portion of the holiday meal prep is a game of Turkey Pom Pom. And while it takes a little bit of preparation to make the game, it will be worth it when toddlers are occupied for as long as it takes to get through a bag of pom-poms.
To create the game, a cardboard box is needed to draw a turkey on the bottom.
Once the turkey has been drawn, included with a rainbow-colored tail, several holes will need to be punched out of each feather. However, the holes need to be small enough so that toddlers have to push the pom poms through the box to make it more challenging.
The goal for toddlers is to match the pom poms with the same-colored feather. And the game ends once all of the pom-poms have been pushed into the turkey feathers.
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