You can personalize these pumpkin, autumn leaves, or cornucopia placemats by adding the name of each guest to a placemat, so that they can also double as place cards. To make them more durable and water resistant, you can “laminate” them by covering them with clear contact paper.
Pumpkin Placemat
Pumpkins make perfect decorations for placemats because they’re bright, cheerful and easy to make. Kids can leave the pumpkin plain, or draw a face on it like a jack-o-lantern.
Supplies You’ll Need:
- one sheet of orange paper for pumpkin
- one sheet of contrasting paper for background
- scrap of green paper for stem and leaves
- pencil
- scissors
- orange and green markers or crayons
- glue
- clear contact paper (optional)
How to Make the Pumpkin Placemat:
- Use a pencil to draw a large pumpkin shape on the orange paper that takes up most of the sheet. The pumpkin can be round, oval or slightly heart shaped.
- Cut out the pumpkin, and flip it over so the pencil marks won’t show.
- Draw slightly curved lines on the pumpkin from top to bottom using an orange marker or crayon (optional) to make it look more three dimensional.
- Cut a small stem from green paper, as well as leaves, if desired. Draw veins on the leaves and stems using a green marker or crayon, if desired.
- Arrange the pumpkin, stem, and leaves on the background paper, then glue them in place.
- Cover the placemat with clear contact paper (optional).
Autumn Leaves Placemat
Leaves are a fun decoration for placemats at Thanksgiving, and throughout the fall season. Kids can draw their own leaves, or they can collect real leaves to trace.
Supplies You’ll Need:
- one sheet of background paper
- scraps of orange, yellow, and red paper for leaves
- orange, yellow, and red markers or crayons
- leaves to trace (optional)
- pencil
- scissors
- glue
- clear contact paper (optional)
How to Make the Autumn Leaves Placemat:
- Use a pencil to draw assorted leaf shapes on the orange, yellow, and red paper, or place real leaves on the paper and trace them.
- Cut out the leaves, and flip them over so the pencil marks won’t show.
- Make small cuts in the edges of the leaves to give them more shape (optional), without cutting all the way through.
- Draw veins on the leaves using colored markers or crayons.
- Arrange the leaves on the background paper, then glue them in place.
- Cover the placemat with clear contact paper (optional).
Cornucopia Placemat
The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is a classic symbol of Thanksgiving, and the harvest it celebrates. Since cornucopias can be a little tricky to draw, you may want to help kids with this part, and let them make and arrange the paper vegetables.
Supplies You’ll Need:
- one sheet of background paper
- one sheet of yellow or brown paper for cornucopia
- small piece of white or light paper (optional)
- scraps of colored paper for vegetables
- assorted colors of markers or crayons
- pencil
- scissors
- glue
- clear contact paper (optional)
How to Make the Cornucopia Placemat:
- Use a pencil to draw a cornucopia, or horn shape, on the yellow or brown paper.
- Cut out the horn, and flip it over so the pencil marks won’t show. If you want, you can cut away the circular area at the front of the horn, and cut a piece of white or light background paper to put behind it, so you can actually slip some of the vegetables inside.
- Draw and cut out assorted vegetables from colored paper. You may want to stick to traditional fall vegetables, such as squash, apples, and corn, or let the kids get creative.
- Place the cornucopia on the background paper, and arrange the vegetables in the opening and in front of it. Glue all the pieces in place.
- Cover the placemat with clear contact paper (optional).
You can save these placemats and reuse them next Thanksgiving, or let the kids make new placemats every year. You might also want to make these Turkey Handprint and Pilgrim Placemats.
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