Thanksgiving can be a long day for kids. It’s always exciting and overwhelming at the same time, especially since all the adults are busy prepping for dinner. With this in mind, I always find a way to keep the kids entertained – something that requires a little bit of focus but is still fun.

Thanksgiving is a time in our family when we take a moment to really think about what we’re thankful for. We take the opportunity to write these things down and keep them as memories for the rest of the year. Even the grown ups get involved!

I came up with these paper-craft turkey boxes with my kids. We actually did similar boxes last year, so this year we reopened them to remind ourselves of what we wrote last year! All the kids cut and make their own turkey with colored construction paper. It’s so simple! Then of course we write down all the things we’re thankful for onto slips of paper, and put them into the box. Happy Thanksgiving!

• Colored construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Craft matchboxes
• Compass
• White-out
• Black pencil
• White pencil

1. Draw a circle onto colored construction paper and cut it out.
2. For the turkey’s neck, pick a contrasting color and cut a long rectangle with rounded corners. For the nose, cut a small triangle out of construction paper and glue it onto the neck. Then glue the neck and nose onto the circle.
3. Draw the turkey’s eye with whiteout. To make the turkey’s accessories, cut a crown and bow out of paper and then glue them onto your turkey.
4. To make the tail feathers, cut long strips of construction paper with triangles on the ends. Glue each of the feathers onto the back of the turkey.
5. Finally glue the turkey on top of a craft matchbox.

6. And the final step: cut paper slips and write down what you’re thankful for. Put these papers into your box.

Happy crafting!