How to make a simple Thanksgiving garland with your family. A great gratitude activity to bring the family together.
Updated October 2024
Like many parents we know, this time of year we try to focus our family’s attention on what we are thankful for. It can be tricky to do so, with all of the stores advertising big sales and shopping.
So we made a thankful bunting and it was the perfect gratitude activity for Thanksgiving. It gives you the chance to:
- talk about what you are thankful for,
- Connect with your kids over the conversation and the craft,
- And create side by side.
- Plus, it gives you a new piece of decor for your home!
What are you thankful for? Before creating the thankful bunting, sit down and talk with your family about what you are each thankful for. This can be a great way to foster family spirit and a sense of contentment, so we recommend doing this activity often, not just at Thanksgiving.
Since Thanksgiving is around the corner, though, we extended the idea to create this lovely thankful garland.
DIY Thanksgiving Garland
MATERIALS
- Sturdy white paper, like cardstock or watercolor paper
- Scissors
- Black permanent markers, such as Sharpies
- Markers, crayons, or other drawing tools
- Hole punch
- Yarn or string
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut your paper into triangles
Any size triangles are fine. We cut each of our standard-size (9 x 12 inch) sheet of watercolor paper into 10 triangles, but you can make your bunting triangles as big or small, even or uneven as you like.
- Draw on your flags
Draw pictures of things you are thankful for and use any coloring tool to add color to your thankful drawings.
- Add words (optional)
If you’d like, you can also add the words for the things you are thankful for. Or just leave the drawings.
- Create your thankful bunting
Arrange the triangle artworks, intermixing them, into the order you’d like. Use a hole punch to punch holes in the top corners of each triangle, then weave string or yarn through all the holes to string them all together.
- Hang your bunting up!
Finally, hang your new thankful bunting up where everyone can see it!
This was a project our founder Jean did with her girls many years ago and it was really fun trying it out this year. It will probably become a yearly tradition in our home!
More Thanksgiving Activities for Kids
- 13 Thanksgiving Arts & Crafts for Family Connection
- How to Make a Gratitude Tree for Thanksgiving
- 5 Thanksgiving Book Crafts for Kids
- 30 Thanksgiving Activities for Kids (Plus a Printable List!)
- How to Make a Thanksgiving Handprint Art Garland
- 15 Thanksgiving Children’s Books
Want even more creative ideas?
Check out our Thanksgiving Creativity pack!
Full of wonderfully fun ideas to help your family practice gratitude this season, this 38-page printable eBook includes: Drawing Prompts, Conversation Starters, Art Projects, and more!
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