Thankful Placemat
A laminated placemat decorated with a child's drawings and words of thankfulness becomes a Thanksgiving table treasure that the whole family sees and reads during the holiday meal. Making it together is also a beautiful conversation about gratitude.
What You'll Need
- Cardstock — 11×17 inch, or two 8.5×11 sheets taped side by side
- Markers and crayons — for decorating
- Laminator or contact paper — for durability
- Fall stickers — leaves, turkeys, pumpkins
How to Do It
Step 1: Decorate the mat. Children draw pictures and write (or dictate) things they are thankful for across the placemat surface: family, food, pets, friends, favorite things.
Step 2: Add a border. Use fall-colored markers to add a decorative border.
Step 3: Add stickers. Apply turkey, leaf, and pumpkin stickers around the edges.
Step 4: Laminate. Run through a laminator or seal with clear contact paper on both sides.
Step 5: Use at Thanksgiving dinner! Each family member reads what the child is thankful for.
🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop
Gratitude practice — Identifying and articulating things they're thankful for is an emotional intelligence skill.
Writing with purpose — Writing on something that will be used and read builds motivation.
Tips & Variations
- Make a placemat for each family member as a set of Thanksgiving gifts.
- Ask "What are you thankful for?" and record the answers verbatim for a developmental snapshot.
My Two Cents
The verbatim answers children give are always priceless — "I'm thankful for mac and cheese and my dog Biscuit and also for when it snows." Keep those placemats. They're tiny time capsules.
