Keeping kids busy at holiday dinners is a task in itself. If the kids are happy and busy, then the adults feel more at ease and often they can have a more enjoyable time themselves. Here are some ideas that just might make your family gathering a little more successful this year!
1. Have a Turkey (for Thanksgiving) or a Tree (for Christmas) HUNT!
Print pictures and cut them out and hide them in the house. Tell the kids that they need to find all 10 pictures (or however many you hide) but they can’t move anything in the house to find them. They are out in the open. This way the kids don’t mess up your home looking for pictures of turkeys/tree and move everything around or scratch end tables, etc. Place them out in the open like on shelves, under side tables where they can see the floor under them, half of the picture sticking out of a book or half showing behind a picture frame, etc. Make at least half the picture showing so the kids can eventually find them all.
2. Purchase or find on-line PRINTABLE PLACEMATS.
If you can’t find them for free, search on www.etsy.com and your purchase can be an instant download. For approximately $6.00 you can print as many as you want on one purchase. Kids can spend time coloring in the game-filled placemats either before or after dinner.
3. Scavenger HuntIf the weather is nice, send the kids out back to search for a host of autumn items – like pine cones, orange or red leaves, small sticks, nuts, etc. If the weather is not nice or too cold – come up with a scavenger hunt they can do indoors. Maybe list some items they have to ask guest for from their pockets, purses or coats – like a blue pen, penny, quarter, tissue, rubber band, mint, paper clip, pocket lint, a piece of note paper with writing on it, any kind of tape, etc.
4. Print a Trivia Game You can search the Internet for tons of fun facts for the holiday your family is celebrating. Cut paper into squares like trivia cards or print them on one sheet to see who can solve the most. Search things like “history of Thanksgiving food” or “crazy pumpkin facts” or “Interesting facts about Christmas” or any other holiday.
5. Gratitude Card Guessing Game
Because the holidays are about being thankful for many things, cut squares of plain paper and let the kids draw pictures of things that they are thankful for. Even adults can join in this game if they want! Put the finished cards in a pile and go around the table/room and each person that picks one up has to guess what that picture is and if the person who drew it wants to elaborate, they can share what that means to them.
6. Print coloring pages for the kids
There are free coloring pages for young children up through adult coloring pages. Just search
Free Printable Thanksgiving Coloring Pages,
Free Printable Christmas Coloring Pages,
Free Printable ______________Coloring Pages.
