An Old Favorite: The Thanksgiving Placemat

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

So I'm here today to share my take on an old old favorite craft for this time of year: the woven Thanksgiving placemat.

This is great for pre-school, kindergarten, first grade or second grade. The kids need to be using their hands to weave and figuring out the patterns of weaving and build on that spacial awareness.

Another reason I love this activity is because some of your little ones who are last to finish a writing lesson may find that they are first to get their mat done...and boy, is that a fun feeling for them!

To prep this I fold orange- or whatever color you like- 12x18 inch construction paper in half. Then I use a pencil and ruler to draw these lines:

The lines are all 2 inches apart and the top line is 2 inches from the edge of the paper.

It is important the straight line across is on the open end of the fold. The bottom is the folded side. In other words- like this:

But leave it folded.... no unfolding... even though some of the kids want to do that! They need to cut on the straight lines AND then unfold it to start weaving....

The strips they weave with are 2 inches as well. They will measure 2x12 inches.

And just a tip... I wouldn't try this whole group with little ones. It is hard and they need a bit of help.

Here is how they look at our kindergarten feast:

I purposely have chosen to have the kiddos write their names on the back of the mats and have not left a name line on the title cards below. However if you would like their name on there I suggest using the generic one that doesn't have the year listed and will give you more room for a name.

Here you go:

And here is another fun Thanksgiving freebie from my TpT store.... and HERE is a blog post telling you more about it, too!

And these are also fun in November!

And one more Freebie: