Thanksgiving Crafts Dry Erase Board & Free Printable

This adorable I Am Thankful dry erase board (with free printable) is an easy Thanksgiving crafts that you can make with your kids to reinforce grateful behaviors and emphasize thankfulness this holiday season. Add them to your list of easy Thanksgiving decorating ideas!

The Gimme Gimmes

Thanksgiving is approaching fast and Christmas is just around the corner. This (unfortunately) means the barrage of captivating tv advertisements, colorful toy catalogs in the mail, and tempting displays at stores aimed at kids is in full force. It’s easy, in this season of giving, for children to turn into whining, greedy little creatures. My husband affectionately calls our kids “Me First and the Gimme Gimmes” when they trade their normally lovable dispositions for ones that are demanding and/or unkind, as though they were a sweet 1960s girl group instead of self-centered beings focused solely on toy-list making.

Learning Gratitude

What’s a parent to do? According to Slate Magazine and  Educating Today, gratitude is a learned behavior. If we want our children to be content we need to teach them gratitude. Of course, it sounds intuitive:  adults should teach their children gratitude and model good behavior, but this might be easier said than done. As busy families, we probably take time to teach our kids to say please and thank you and make them help around the house — but how often do we take the time to discuss and reflect on our blessing in life and how grateful we are for the people and things in it… especially in front of our children?

Thanksgiving Crafts That Emphasize Thankfulness

Parents Magazine believes rituals can reinforce the grateful behaviors parents’ desire. With this idea in mind, I created a printable dry erase board that you can use to trigger discussions and emphasize thankfulness in your kids. We’re using them every day during the holiday season. They’ve already made for some interesting family dinner discussions.

Free Printables

I’ve created free printables that you can use to create “I Am Thankful” boards with your family. It’s a very easy Thanksgiving craft for kids : you print out your favorite design on scrapbook paper or colored paper and insert it into an 8×10 frame. The glass of the frame acts as a dry erase board so you can write a new thought on the boards each day (make sure to use a dry erase marker).

Easy Kid’s Craft

Our kids had a great time choosing the perfect scrapbook paper and design for the boards. We used 8×10 frames we had around the house (and a few new ones from Dollar Tree). Then, to make the frames more personal, we used washi tape, twine, and paper to make tiny banners and flags to decorate the edges.

Try making (and using) these I Am Thankful boards with your children this holiday season. I have included three printable designs that you can simply print on your choice of paper and pop into a frame:

PLUS three printable designs with extra space at the top border for adding your own extra Thanksgiving decorations:

The design possibilities are endless!

How to Download the Printables

Get your favorite design in the free printable library.

Fancy Printable with Starburst	Bold Printable with Swirl	Cutie Printable with Finale
Fancy Printable to Decorate	Bold Printable to Decorate	Cutie Printable to Decorate

 

More Thanksgiving Crafts

Kids love my Thanksgiving cootie catchers that help them express gratitude.

Check out my PBK Inspired Give Thanks Glitter Banner for an easy Thanksgiving craft that looks great hanging with your gratitude boards.

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