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Thanksgiving Recipes for Kids

Thanksgiving Recipes for Kids - Playgarden NYC

The holidays have officially arrived! This can be a time of marvel and wonder, of family and friends, or of stress and tears. Most likely, you’ll have a little bit of everything, especially if your festivities include little ones under the age of five.

One of the toughest times for our littlest little ones to feel included is during food-prep, most notably for Thanksgiving. Luckily, there are many different ways your preschooler can join in on the fun, while staying safe, and even learning! We have some ideas for recipes that can act as holiday activities, as well as extra parenting tips to keep in mind for Thanksgiving and throughout this holiday season.

Mixing and Mashing

When preparing recipes, the measurements are often precise, but the way all the ingredients get into the mixing bowl doesn’t have to be! You can be the designated measurer, and your little one can drop whatever’s in the spoon or cup into the bowl. They can even help starting to blend the ingredients together with a big mixing spoon or fork!

Bonus Parenting Tip: Make sure your measuring cups and spoons are all clean, even on the outside, because your little one may have a hard time holding onto some of the heavier ingredients in this holiday activity for kids. This way, simply dropping the whole cup into the (preferably plastic) mixing bowl is a completely viable option! 

Pre-Made Baked Goods

You don’t have to make every portion of your meal from scratch (and if you’re homeschooling your little one, you probably don’t have time), but this is where semi-prepared sides, like crescent rolls or the like, come into play! Make sure you open the packaging (especially if your little one has ASD or is otherwise sensitive to big noises), but from there, you can let your little one divide the pieces of dough, roll them up (if that’s what is called for), or simply place them onto the baking pan. What a fun holiday activity for kids!

Bonus Parenting Tip: Make sure to show your little one exactly what to do, especially for something that requires those tiny motor skills your little one is still working on, like rolling up the dough triangles. But make sure you don’t “fix” their work after they’re done. That might deter them from trying to help you in the future. Plus, that creation may be the most beautiful piece of art that the oven bakes today!

Displaying Hors D’Oeuvres

You may have an artist on your hands who only needs the correct medium! Make sure your little one has washed their hands well (and knows to wash them again should they accidentally wipe their nose or face), and give them a plate with raw veggies or fruit to mix into a fruit salad. They may love giving in to chaos, or want to delicately display each baby carrot from biggest to babiest. However they want to set up the appetizer as their holiday activity for kids, make sure you appreciate their work and say “thank you!”

Experimental Drinks

Drinks can be a place where your little one can let their creativity flow. There are many recipes for refreshing juice cocktails, with just a little bit of sparkling water added to some cranberry juice cocktail, or a dash of lime concentrate added to a full glass of sparkling water, but your little one might have even more creative ideas. Why stop at just mixing cranberry and apple juice? Maybe they want to make a punch out of all their juice boxes and serve it proudly to the rest of the family! 

Bonus Parenting Tip: Getting your little one to try eating something new is often a battle, but if you both try something together, they’re more likely to give it a whirl. They look up to you and follow your lead in other things, so you can both giggle as you taste their holiday activity for kids concoction!

Decorating Desserts

A classic for a reason – whether baking gingerbread people who need to be cut out with cookie cutters, sugar cookies that need some icing on top, or a whole gingerbread house that needs construction and decoration as a fun holiday activity for kids, give your little one free reign (as long as it’s safe) to decorate as they see fit. They may also end up with icing all over their faces and hands, but that is often half the fun of decorating! 

Most ImportantlyYou know your little one the best! If you’ve had a working child-sized kitchen for a while, your little one might be familiar enough with the health and safety parameters to help out with more intense recipes, or you might be introducing them to the kitchen for the very first time this Thanksgiving. Whatever the case, make sure they feel included with whatever holiday activities for kids you think they’d enjoy most!

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Hi, I'm Miss Charlotte!!

Miss Charlotte is an Education Director by trade, and a mom by heart. All 200+ of our DIY projects were created by Miss Charlotte, with the help of her expert DIY assistant—Her 4 year old daughter! With a MST degree in Early Childhood Education and 15 years of teaching experience, her blogs and DIY projects have been an incredible resource for our Playgarden Prep schools. We hope that your family loves them as much as we do!