Ask A Chicago Expert: Thanksgiving Crafts For Kids

Located in Roscoe Village, Gratitude-Heart-Garden Florist offers fresh-cut flowers, an assortment of different plants and specialty gift products. Whether it's a simple bouquet or a unique gift basket, each hand-designed creation is produced with joy in mind. From small floral arrangements to large wedding parties, Gratitude-Heart-Garden Florist ensures only the freshest flowers are used with each arrangement. Same-day flower delivery service and custom creations make this venue stand out from the many other flower shops located throughout the city.

Siddhanta Wiederhold
Gratitude-Heart-Garden Florist
2058 W. Roscoe St.
Chicago, IL 60618
(877) 702-5666
www.bloomnation.com

Siddhanta Wiederhold, Owner and Head Designer of Gratitude-Heart-Garden Florist and florist on BloomNation.com, can offer some insight into how to utilize flowers and plants into crafting ideas for the kids. Incorporating crafting activities with the kids to help celebrate the holidays can help to get them involved in the preparation. Thanksgiving is a perfect example of how to celebrate with the kids, while making something that can be used on the big day. Wiederhold offers his own expertise on some Thanksgiving kid-friendly craft projects that will make a statement.

Utilize A Candle

"Fall is a great season to light candles and fill the house with warm scents. This simple craft involves a short glass candle hurricane, low plastic dish and simple cuttings of dried flowers, pine cones, leaves and berries. All you need is a hot glue gun to affix the cuttings to the plastic dish, and then place a candle inside the glass hurricane behind it. Kids can use whatever they find in the yard, or pick up dried florals from your florist or craft store."

Make A Cylinder Collection

"This collection of glass cylinders also features found objects in nature, which is a great way to get your kids outside and involved with what is around them. Fill glass cylinders of various height with moss, pine cones, fall leaves, dried lotus pods, lichens or whatever strikes their fancy. You can also use cranberries, acorns and different colors of sand. Layer them to show off the various textures and colors, and place them around the house to show off what they find."

Make A Fall Garland Piece

"This simple fall garland involves a few interesting floral items you can pick up from your florist for the kids to easily thread into a beautiful garland, with a little supervison. This garland features yellow craspedia, dried orange chinese lanterns and white strawflower. Snip the items close to the heads, and have the kids needle very thin wire, or sewing thread, to create garlands that can hang indefinitely for the season."

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Make A Pumpkin Arrangement

"A simple craft for adding some fresh flowers in the house that children can participate in is made by hollowing out small pumpkins to create natural 'vases' for seasonal flower arrangements. Flowers that look great in these are any variety of mums, hypericum berries, leucadendron or any fun textured greens. You can even use the pumpkins as small planters for succulents as well."

Make A Classic Turkey With A Twist

"Make cute turkeys out of tiny terra cotta pots, moss, craspedia and fall leaves. These arrangements will dry and can serve as fun decorations for your Thanksgiving table or your kids' rooms. Take the small terra cotta pot and insert a small piece of styrofoam. Insert the craspedia (which will dry and keep their color) and cover the base with green reindeer moss. Glue different colored fall leaves to the back, and have your kids draw out their turkey faces on construction paper. Each one comes out different, reflecting each child's individual character."

Related: Best Thanksgiving Feasts In Chicago 

Sara Lugardo is a professional writer out of Chicago, Illinois. She has a Bachelor's in Communication and is currently working on her Master's. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.