Doing crafts at home with your kids is a terrific way of bonding and having fun at the same time as encouraging your child’s learning. We’ve brought together seven of our favorite November-themed crafts to keep things fresh and interesting for the season, including Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month themes. All of our November craft ideas are fairly easy to make and most only need a few easy-to-source materials.
Dream Catchers
Traditionally, dream catchers were woven by Native American elders to hang above a baby at nighttime. Preschoolers can enjoy discovering more about Native American traditions while creating a simple but attractive dreamcatcher out of a paper plate. Red Ted Art provides step-by-step instructions for this cool November craft.
Candy Corn Bunting
Country Living provides another easy but eye-catching idea for November crafts using paper plates. You and your child can have fun making colorful candy corn bunting to decorate your dining room for Thanksgiving. All you need is some paper plates, paint, string, and scissors.
Turkey Pom Pom
These cute turkey pom pom crafts from Growing Up Gabel encourage little ones to use their fine motor skills and provide sensory stimulation from the diverse colors and textures. When finished, they can be used as place settings, table decorations, or even given to family and friends as lovely little gifts.
Painted Rocks and Leaves
One of the best November crafts for preschoolers if you want to combine time outdoors, is this idea from Handmade Charlotte involves going outside to collect small rocks and leaves. Your child can enjoy spotting fall colors before painting their finds. You can set a certain color scheme or go vibrant with paints of all colors. Help your child to write letters to spell out your own Thanksgiving message for a lovely table display.
Autumn Leaf Table Runner
Whether you use it on your Thanksgiving table or as a decoration in a different part of the house, this leaf table runner from Paper & Stitch can be made as big or small as you like. You and your child can spend a few minutes on it at a time and stretch it into a multi-day project, or spend a couple of hours making it one afternoon. If you have no colored paper your little one can color the paper leaves with crayons.
Papier Mache Rattles
Most Native American groups used rattles as part of their music-making. Combining papercraft, coloring, sticking, and tying, this idea from Art is Basic lets younger kids use a range of skills. When finished, the patterned rattles make plenty of noise for a fun sensory experience.
Yarn Pumpkins
These yarn pumpkins from One Little Project are among the best crafts for kids who love getting a bit messy. You’ll need to allow around a day for the glued yarn to completely dry before completing the project. Why not make a few to put in the middle of the table or hang around the house?
