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March 28, 2024

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Duo Craft with Little Blocks

Bring the family together for a Thanksgiving crafting project.

When your kids show an interest in crafts, encourage them along no matter the age! We made the below craft together as a family last year, and they loved it! It was easy for them to paint the blocks and cut out the squares. So, this year, to change it up a bit, I let the kids redo them (no picture available yet, sorry).

We pulled off the paper squares and added new ones. However, these new ones were quite different. Instead of using craft paper and writing the letters on, we decided to take all the magazines we could find and cut out the letters we needed to make the same phrase. We spelled out “Give Thanks” and then cut out even more little items to decorate the extra blocks. Now, on the reverse side, we did the same kind of thing, but this time we spelled out “Merry Christmas.” Same craft resulted in two different outcomes! When the time comes, just turn the blocks around!

Here’s the original craft that all ages can help create for a Thanksgiving decoration.

What You Need
16 one-inch blocks (Hobby Lobby has a set for just $2.99)
Paint
Paint brushes
Scrapbook paper
Silver permanent marker or white paint pen
Regular paper and a pen

What You Do

  1. With your pen and paper, write down which letters/symbols you would like to appear on the blocks.
  2. Organize those letters/symbols to alternate colors. We used green, brown and red.
  3. Once you know how many blocks to paint each color, paint them and set them aside to dry.
  4. While the blocks are drying, take your scrapbook paper and cut a square that is slightly smaller than 1Γ—1 inch. It doesn’t have to be perfect as that will give each a unique look.
  5. After you have cut out enough squares and the blocks are dry, glue those squares to the blocks.
  6. Once the glue has dried, take your permanent marker or paint pen and write in the letters/symbols. Having the children do this step will also add a little character to the blocks. If you decide to do Thanksgiving related symbols like we did, a simple silhouette of them works just fine. No need to add detail to them.
  7. Set them aside to completely dry.
  8. After they are dry, you can assemble them on the fireplace mantle or on the table around your Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece.

About the Author

Kiera Ashford - Baby Watch Blog

Kiera Ashford is associate editor of Nashville Parent and mother of two rambunctious kids and a new baby!