1. Offical Coat Check Attendant: As you put the finishing touches on the meal, have your little ones greet people at the door and be the official coat check addendents. Make them feel extra important by making a few coat check tickets with these labels. Don’t forgot to provide a stool so they can hang up the coats easily!
2. The VIP Photographer (with Press Pass!) Print out the words Press Pass on cardstock, tape one to each kid, and give them a camera. It could be as simple has handing them an old iphone, but what about splurging on this Instax Instant Photocamera? Have an older sibling create a collage of their images—a wonderful way to remember the holiday!
3. The Interior Decorator: Time to get crafting! Paper Source has created super easy craft kits for kids this holiday season. Check out their Paper Chain Garland Kit, Gingerpaper House Kit, and the Holiday Elf Kit. Once the day is over, your house will be ready for the next holiday.
4. Movie Usher: After dinner, have your kids hand out tickets to watch a favorite Thanksgiving movie: A Miracle on 34th Street, for example, is a perfect segue to December. Will you be watching the original or the new version? Let the kids decide!
5. Actor’s Studio: Have the kids browse through a few Thanksgiving books to find the origins of this special holiday and recreate the events in a play. I just bought The Thanksgiving Story because of it’s beautiful illustratations and solid information. It has everything needed to put on an fabulous preformance. For costumes? Check out these beautiful pilgrim costumes for girls and one for boys, and indian costumes for girls and boys. Or just make your own!
Besides doing the dishes . . .
My kids love to help me in the kitchen. As soon as they hear me getting out cooking supplies, they ask, “What are you making? Can I help? I’ll stir! Please?” In the past, mom guilt has always made me say yes. I know the benefits of cooking with my kids. It has such potential as a time to chat and learn together. It just never ends up that way for me. Not with my 5-year-old twin boys, anyway. I always end up stressed out.
Take last week, for example. I was making chocolate chip cookies with my son Oscar. He asked if he could stir the dry ingredients. “Sure!” I said. A perfect age appropiate activity for him, I thought. I turned for a second to get the eggs out of the fridge, and when I returned, Oscar’s shoe was off and in the flour mixture.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I asked. With tears in in eyes, he told me he accidentally spilled some flour on the floor and he was just putting it back in. “Ugh. Fine.” I said, “Don’t worry about. I’ll finish up.” And that’s how the great bonding and learning moment ended. Did I handle the situation perfectly? No. Could it have been a bounding moment? Yes. I admit I wasn’t at my best. He ended up walking out of the room sulking while I finished the cookies in solitude and bliss! The cookies turned out amazing, I might add. And after one bite, he seemed to move on.
So it was with great delight that I made this list of jobs to assign each kid this holiday season. It will give kids specific responsiblities while you and other adults prepare the best Thanksgiving Day meal ever. You might even be tempted to join in on their activities!