3 Kid-Approved Friendsgiving Activities

Yesterday I had the joy of hosting a Friendsgiving lunch with a couple of neighborhood friends and their kiddos. Have you ever heard of or hosted a Friendsgiving before? It was such a special time and I can’t wait to do it again next year! For our lunch I stuck with a pretty traditional Thanksgiving menu (I wish I had made a build your own turkey veggie tray) and our friends brought some delicious sides and a yummy pumpkin pie. This was such a wonderful treat to stop and enjoy a feast with friends, because let’s be honest…as mamas how often do we truly sit down to enjoy a meal with friends in the middle of the day? I planned a few super simple activities to go along with our lunch, so if you’re looking for fun ideas here’s 3 Kid-Approved Friendsgiving Activities your little turkeys are sure to enjoy.

3 Kid-Approved Friendsgiving Activities

1. Coloring Tablecloth

This was hands down the easiest thing I did for our Friendsgiving celebration and the kids really enjoyed it. They couldn’t believe they could color on the table. So simple & a big hit! Plus, it made the cleanup really easy. I literally just rolled it up and tossed it when we were finished.

Supplies Needed:

• Roll of Paper (We found ours at Hobby Lobby. Similar one here.)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils

2. Play Dough Fine Motor Turkeys

When I saw these cute Fine Motor Play Dough Turkeys on Pinterest I knew I wanted to incorporate them into our Friendsgiving somehow. So after a little trial and error, I came up with the idea to bag them up and attach a cute little tag to make an activity that doubled as a party favor. I did completely forget to include a piece of construction for the beak (oops!), but I think the turned out pretty cute nonetheless. We had fun playing with these during our playdate and the best part is that each kiddo took home their supplies for continued play at home.

Supplies Needed:

• Play Dough
• Googly Eyes
• Pony Beads
• Construction Paper (For Beak)
• Spaghetti Noodles (Cut in half)
• For Packaging: Small Baggies & Tape or Stapler (for adhering the tag to the bag)
• Printable ‘I am very thankful for you’ Tag (FREE download below)

How to Assemble the Play Dough Fine Motor Turkey Party Favor:

1. Put a small ball of play dough, 8-10 spaghetti pieces, googly eyes, construction paper beak, and pony beads in a resealable plastic bag.
2. Attach the ‘I’m very thankful for you’ tag to the top of the bag with tape or a stapler.
3. Invite your guests to create a turkey by adding eyes, a beak and creating feathers with spaghetti noodles and pony beads.

3. Pin the Tail on the Turkey

Sadly, we weren’t able to get to this activity during the playdate but it did serve as a cute backdrop for our table. After our friends left, Bridgett insisted on putting all the feathers on the turkey. She had so much fun! This was really easy to make and I’m going to leave it up in our dining room until Thanksgiving. I imagine she’ll want to take those feathers on and off several times between now and then.

Supplies Needed:

• Brown construction paper (for the body and head)
• Yellow or orange construction paper (for the beak & legs)
• Red construction paper for the Snood
• Construction paper in the colors of your choice (for the feathers)
• White construction paper (for the eye)
• Black Marker
• Circle Punch
• Painters Tape

How to make a DIY Pin the Tail on the Turkey Game

1. First, trace two circles onto brown construction paper. I used two mixing bowls as my template. You’ll need one large for the body and one small for the head. Use scissors to cut the circles out.

2. Draw a beak onto yellow or orange construction paper and use scissors to cut it out. Repeat this step with red construction paper to create a snood (the iconic red piece that hangs over the beak).

3. From the yellow or orange paper, cut out two strips (about 12″ long and 2″ wide) of yellow or orange paper. Fold the strips of paper accordion style (see image above).

4. Punch out a circle from white paper to create an eyeball. Use a black marker to draw the turkey’s eye.

5. Using construction paper in the color(s) of your choice, draw the shape of a feather and cut out using scissors.

6. Last but not least, assemble your turkey and secure it to your wall using painters tape. Enjoy!

Place a small piece of painters tape on the back of each feather and let the fun begin!

Originally I had planned to blindfold the kiddos and have them try to place the feathers on the turkey, but Bridgett honestly loved just dressing up her turkey so you could really do it either way!

Isn’t that turkey so cute? I love him! He sort of makes me think of the Simple Thanksgiving Turkey Craft we made last week. Here’s a few more images of our Friendsgiving setup!

One of my favorite parts of our decor was the cute Turkey plates I found at Target. Wouldn’t they look so cute with a turkey themed lunch on them?! Speaking of menu ideas, be sure to head on over and check out the 4 Friendsgiving Menu Ideas that my sweet friend Ashley from Veggies and Virtue put together. I’m obsessed with the turkey veggie platter. It would be so perfect for a Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving celebration and I really love that it’s a hands on opportunity for my girls to create and eat lots of veggies. Here’s two of my favorites that she shared:

Turkey Sandwich with Apple Slice Feathers

Build Your Own Turkey Veggie Platter with Dip

I hope that you and your kiddo(s) have a great Thanksgiving and that you now have several ideas of kid approved activities and healthy menu ideas for you and your little turkeys to enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

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