Crafts with common household goods are my favorite. (I wrote a big ol’ book about it, after all!) These brown paper bag placemats are adorable and can absolutely be made by the kids! I first made a version of these placemats for a segment on The Meredith Viera Show last December! (You can see the clip here!) But, they are so fun for any dinner, especially a Thanksgiving diner where you can utilize the brown bag as a canvas to doodle on before you dine! These make great Thanksgiving crafts for kids!
Here’s what you need for thankful placemats
- Large brown paper bags from the grocery store
- Scissors
- Markers
- Dinner plate to trace around
How to make thankful placemats
Step 1- Cut brown bag
A typical brown paper grocery bag will make 2 placements. Simply cut the brown bag open so that it lays flat.
Step 2- Crinkle
Next, cut 2 same size rectangles out of the brown paper bag, and crumple up the placemats. Then, crumple some more.
Step 3- Decorate the placemat
Now, it’s time for the fun part- decorate the placements! Use a dinner plate as a stencil to trace a large circle onto the brown paper bag placemat. Then, go back over the circle with a Sharpie marker. Once you have the plate marked, you can use your knife, fork, and spoon as stencils too. Finally add, “I am thankful for…” at the top of your placemat and if you’d like them to double as name cards add doodle on name tags to each mat.
Step 4- Use them
For the record, these are not just for kids, adults can use these too. Everyone sit together at the table and take a few minutes to doodle what each person is thankful for. Of course, if you like a more formal table setting, these brown bag place mats are perfect for the kids table and keep the kids entertained while dinner is bring made.
If you’re looking for more simple thanksgiving crafts for kids, don’t miss these posts:
Happy almost Turkey Day!
Comments & Reviews
Yay for free!! and keepings the kids, and us older kids busy before the food gets done!!
Thanks!
2ut
Good idea to provide some table time entertainment for family meal celebrations like Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing at Family Joy Blog Linkup.
These look like so much fun! My kids would love doing something like this during Thanksgiving. Thanks for joining the Family Joy Link Party!
This is a great idea, and I am definitely going to start this tradition with my boys starting this year! Thanks for sharing this with us at our Throwback Thursday link party!
Very cute idea!!! I will so be using this idea on Thursday! Love it 🙂
– Seri
So fun! We’re having out of state guests over next week & I think I’m going to do this for dinner Wednesday night to kick off the holiday! Thanks for the idea!!
This is an adorable item. Perfect craft to keep them busy while dinner is being prepared. Thanks for sharing on Sunday’s Best linkup.
What a cute idea and I’m sure my kids would love making these! Thanks so much for sharing at Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa
How fun! Such a great idea to keep the kids busy for a little while 🙂
Thank you for sharing with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
Have a great week
~Laurie