In the late 2000s I kept a personal mom blog called Nest Bliss. I reviewed books, wrote about the house and the girls, and was even in the Wall Street Journal. These posts are from then: light, young, a mom in her late twenties. I have edited them to stand on their own.
Getting Ready for Thanksgiving & A Few Thanksgiving Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers I am really excited about Thanksgiving this year. I will have lots of family in town, including my niece who is also two and it will be of course Lilly's first Thanksgiving.
I doubt I will do as much cooking in advance as I did last year but I am sure with all the extra help I will work it out.
I was thinking about getting Ava prepared to understand the holiday and realized I knew very little about it other than football and dinner. These videos from History.com helped me a lot.
I still remember lots of Indian and Pilgrim crafts around the holiday and while I know that it wasn't all love and turkey between the Indians and Pilgrims I have decided that it is still worth learning about - even though sometime in middle school my girls will have all their Pilgrim / Indian love dreams shattered by a history teacher.
So... I ordered this Little People Thanksgiving play set from fisherprice.com -
(Is there anything more 80's holiday throw back than Pilgrim and Indian plastic people? I think not. Just embrace it - I know you want to.) I have some fall decor out as well as scarecrow dolls, a plush turkey and a bunch of library books about Thanksgiving in a basket to play with and talk about the holiday. I do this holiday basket idea at Christmas as well, it seems to be interesting to my toddler and keeps the seasonal stuff tidy during the holidays. I also have the Santa and Nativity Little People sets. I will make some turkey hand prints, maybe on fabric and put them in a embroidery hoop to hang. Oh yes, look at how I found a craft my 3 week old can make ;)
I will make a Thankful Book by drawing the people I am thankful for and coloring them. Ava, at two, can pretty much understand this concept, especially if you use phrases like "thank you for my grandma" instead of "I am thankful for Grandma." - Some fun ideas - Thankful Buckets (Fun that the blogger's mom gives her children a bucket each year)
Oreo Cookie Turkeys (I would be so cool if I made these for Ava's class) Gorgeous Leaf Wreath (Too bad I don't actually have 'fall' here but if I did!)
Fruit Gobbler (I hope my niece and daughter will get to make this) Otherwise I just cook lots of great food, enjoy some wine and map out my black Friday shopping trip!