This DIY thanksgiving placemat craft tutorial for kids includes directions to make a fun thanksgiving placemat that is perfect for decorating the table with on Thanksgiving.

Each person can do the craft to make their own thanksgiving placemat or children in the family can work to make the placemats for everyone over the course of the week before Thanksgiving. These are also fun placemats to make as a Thanksgiving themed craft for preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

These placemats are super simple and all you will need is construction paper, glue, scissors, coloring utensils, and printer paper. You will need to print out the placemat template found at Childhood101.com or any other placement setting before starting.

For another fun Thanksgiving craft for kids, check out these paper bag turkey puppet crafts.

Tips for success

*Print out the placemat setting sheet found at childhood101 before starting. Once this is printed out a grown-up or old enough child will need to cut each piece out of the placemat.

*The plate on the placemat is the perfect place to draw an item of choice to personalize the placemats.

*We like to have children draw a picture of whoever’s placemat they are making in the middle of the plate, practice writing their name, and color in the spoon, fork, and knife for each placemat if they are being made for all the members of the family.

*If these DIY Thanksgiving placemats are being made in a classroom children or students can also choose to draw something they are thankful for in the middle of the plate on the placemat. This goes great with a lesson on being thankful.

*This is a great motivator for kids to help get Thanksgiving dinner ready. They will be excited to pick out spots and put everyone’s placemats down and out. They may then be more motivated to help set the table as well.

*We like to use thanksgiving colored paper for the placemats. Oranges, yellow, browns and reds are going to look best when setting the thanskgiving table. You can either make bigger placemats and use 12×18″ paper or 9×11″ pieces of paper work well too. You will simply space out the table setting pieces more on a larger piece of paper. 

1. Print out the placemat found at childhood101 onto white paper.

2. Color each piece of the thanksgiving placemat. On the middle of the plate write the person’s namewho will be sitting in the seat and draw a piecture ofthem OR have children draw a piecture of something or someone they are thankful of for the middle of the plate. 

3. Cut out each piece on the placemat. You will have a plate, spoon, fork and knife.

4. Glue each piece of the placemat onto Thanksgiving colored construction paper (yellow, red, orange, or brown). If you use larger paper be sure to space the place-setting pieces out more.

5. Add thanksgiving or fall-themed stickers, draw leaves, or any other decoration on the colored paper around the placemat.

6. Laminate or cover with tape if desired (optional)

7. Place placemats around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and put table setting pieces on top of the corresponding piece on the placemat.