FREE Christmas Bingo!

 For all of you room moms out there, getting ready for your classroom Christmas parties, here is a link to The Teacher's Wife, where she is offering a FREE black and white or color Christmas Bingo only until December 1.  After that, you will need to purchase the set for $2.00 from her TpT store.  Print out and laminate a set to use as a center at your holiday party this year.  Mark off the spaces with Christmas candy as the pictures are called.  Any activity + candy = fun for kids!

Thanksgiving Ideas for the Kids' Table

Growing up, I must admit that Thanksgiving wasn't one of my favorite holidays.  Don't get me wrong...I love turkey, pie and a great home cooked meal, but it felt like there was nothing more than the eating.  Now as an adult, my own family usually gets together with my husband's side of the family, where my kids play with their cousins, the guys watch a football game or two and the girls sit in the living room looking through ads in the paper to see which stores we will visit in the middle of the night, all for the sake of a good deal...yeah I'm one of those crazy people!  Playing games and eating comes with the holiday too.  Well if your family has kids or kids coming to dinner, here are a few ideas you can use to keep them entertained at the "kids table".
Have the kids make these darling little turkeys using Rice Krispies.

While sitting at the table, waiting for the food, have the kids color some Thanksgiving pictures using this FREE package of assembled crayons.

and FREE coloring page, which could double as a placemat.

I am a sucker for Peanut Butter, so making these Nutter Butter turkeys would be a BIG hit at my house. 

Ingredients needed:
Nutter Butter Cookies
M&M's (minis)
White Cookie Frosting
Red, Yellow and Orange Jelly Beans
Candy Corn
(Full Sized) Reese's PB Cups
(Nabisco) Chocolate Wafer Cookies

How about these simple Pilgrim hat cookies from Woman's Day?  3 ingredients!  (Nabisco) Chocolate Wafer Cookies, 1 tube orange frosting with piping tip, and small Reese's PB cups.

I love this idea from Fiskars.  Fill a pie tin with some items to munch on so that when dinner isn't ready on time, the kids will have some food to snack on.  Fill the tin with items such as popcorn, M&M's, Bugles chips, nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, etc.  Make sure to cut a shape in the lid to resemble the top of a pie.

Also, from Fiskars, turn a paper cup upside down and decorate it like a Pilgrim's hat to hold the crayons.  If the table is covered with some white butcher paper, the kids can enjoy the wait time while coloring!

Lastly, I thought I should add some nutrition to the mix.  Maybe serving vegetables like this would make the kids want some?!?

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends!  Check back next week as I start the Christmas ideas coming...

Thanksgiving Gift Ideas

Looking for a quick gift for a friend, neighbor, teacher, or something to bring to dinner?  Here are a few suggestions for you this Thanksgiving.
First of all, don't you think kids would be excited to get a jar of Turkey Toes!?!  Put some candy corn in a jar and add a cute label and you are all set!

This idea from Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night, is not only super cute and easy, but also includes a FREE tag.  Head to the dollar store to pick up a container, add some fall colored M&M's (or Reece's Pieces), slap on a tag and you're ready to go!

Another easy gift idea, would be to print out one of these great printables (or another one you like).  Look for a cute 8x10 picture frame at the dollar store (or else where) and add your printable to the frame.  All in all, the gift could cost you a little over $1.  Here are a few printables I have found a love:



Source:  Balancing Home

Source:  Capital B

Source:  Craftily Ever After 

Gratitude Rolls

THIS may just be one of the coolest Thanksgiving traditions I have seen...GRATITUDE ROLLS.

As guests arrive, give them each a small slip of paper and have them write one thing they are grateful for.  Place each slip of paper on a wedge of crescent roll dough and wrap up the paper inside.  Follow the directions for the rolls and bake as usual.  At dinner, as each guest takes a roll, they read what the slips of paper say.  As suggested by Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, a fun twist to this activity is to then guess who wrote what.  What a fun way to bring the family closer and keep in mind all our blessings!

{FREE} November Calendar Cards

Although Novemeber is half way through, maybe you can print out these calendar cards to use for next year.  These are a FREE download from Doodle Bugs Teaching, and would work perfectly for sequencing numbers as a center or to use as part of a calendar. 

Thanksgiving Acorns

Since Thanksgiving is always such a crazy day in the kitchen, why not start the day off with a simple breakfast for the kids...like these cute acorn donuts.  Okay I know what you're thinking...more calories on Thanksgiving, but aren't they darling!?! 

Source:  Gracious Rain

These would also be a fun activity for the kids to make while waiting for dinner or during a class party/feast!