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| Flickr Creative Commons:Photo by woodleywonderworks |
Thanksgiving is a time to spend with friends and family and be thankful for all the blessings in our lives.
This Thanksgiving, get the entire family together, and not just at the dinner table. Take away some of your stress Thanksgiving Day and have your child get involved in the kitchen! Almost all ages can help with kitchen prep, decorations, table setting and entertainment on Thanksgiving Day.
These eleven different ideas can add more meaning and eliminate chaos from your Thanksgiving dinner.
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Age five and Under
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Six through nine
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Ten through twelve
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Thirteen and older
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Tear, Shred and Shuck: Instead of having your child work with knives, let
them use their hands! Give your child tasks like washing potatoes, tearing
bread for stuffing or shucking corn on the cob!
Table Etiquette: Teaching dining etiquette at a young age is never a bad idea. Here
is a great video that shows how to set a table and other dinning
etiquette skills!
Create Décor for the Home: Prior to Thanksgiving give your child Thanksgiving
crafts that add a little extra flare to your home! Find thankful turkey
crafts on our Pinterest page.
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Go Shopping Together: Once you’ve made your shopping list, show your
child different ingredients and differences between some foods in the store
(yams and potatoes can be confusing). If you’re able, purchase local
vegetables at the farmers market and encourage your child to ask the vendor
questions!
Put them in Charge: Give your child more responsibility by putting them
in charge of a dish that needs constant attention like basting the turkey!
Just dough it: If your family is making homemade pies, let your child roll the pie
dough out early Thanksgiving morning. Later on in the day, let your child
organize the dinner roll dough on a cookie sheet.
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Stage a Dinner Theater: Thanksgiving is not just about food and football.
Have your pre-teens act out the first Thanksgiving dinner in a play for
entertainment while eating.
Measure their Math Skills: Challenge your child to show their math skills with
a measuring cup set. During this, let them know the importance of proper
measuring and the consequences that you could have!
Teach Kitchen Safety: With age comes responsibility. Show your child the
correct way to hold a kitchen knife, and how to handle raw foods. Remember to
teach the importance of handwashing in the kitchen, as well!
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Create a Catering Company: Have your child come up with a plan before Thanksgiving
dinner. Let them plan the dishes and plan out the prep time as if they were
their own catering company.
Try Something New: Include your teenager on meal planning by having them find a new
recipe that appeals to them. These 13 recipes are kid friendly and put a
twist on original Thanksgiving dishes.
Encourage your teens to create their own alterations
to dishes like adding cheese to potatoes!
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