Five Easy Thanksgiving Crafts to Replace the Hand-Traced Turkey [VIDEOS]

Turkeys themselves may not be thankful for much at this time of year, but parents can help their kids learn about gratitude with this construction-paper project in which children include things they're thankful for on the turkey's “feathers.” We're guessing “a day off from school” will be written on more than a few feathers.

With just a couple stamp pads, a pen, some glue-on eyes, and of course a few tiny thumbs, kids can create cute place cards for the Thanksgiving table. Just make sure they don't seat Aunt Edna next to Cousin Susan again — everyone's still talking about that incident from last year.

Everyone seems to focus on the turkey and forget about the pilgrims. These little colonists require only a plastic spoon, black and white paper, a glue stick and the requisite googly eyes just for fun. Kids love anything with googly eyes.

The turkey hat is a bit more involved and requires a glue gun, so you'll need to help the kids with this one. But it looks like a fun project to do together and — bonus — it'll give you something to wear to the next Royal Wedding, too.

The how-to video for these pretty candle holders is lengthy, but the instructions themselves aren't. You'll just need glass jars, decoupage glue and some of those autumn leaves cluttering up your yard. When the kids are done, drop in a tea light candle (or, to be super-safe, a flameless LED version) and enjoy the glow on your Thanksgiving table.