Thanksgiving for the kids

Ok, so everyone knows the joys of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I love to be in the kitchen. I am so looking forward to cooking all day long. I just love it. But enter 2 wild children wanting to help, and it can become a little hectic. Some of you have more than 2 wild children. I remember Thanksgiving's where there were 10-15 or more wild children running around grandma's kitchen! So what do you do with the little rugrats to keep them occupied and still make them feel as though they are "helping"? Well, this is just an idea I had a few years ago, and my daughter loved it. She made personalized placemats for everyone. I got a piece of scrapbooking paper, I even let her pick the color. I pulled out markers, crayons, stickers and let her have at it. She was just beginning to write her letters, so she put everyone's name on their placemat then decorated it with lots of scribbles, doodles and stickers. Then she got to put them out in the spot where she wanted everyone to sit. She loved it. She really felt like she contributed to the whole holiday! Everyone made sure to make a big deal out of her artwork!
So you will need:
-Enough Pieces of cardstock for everyone at your table
-Thanksgiving Stickers
-Markers-(make sure they are washable)
-Crayons
-Clear Contact Paper-this is optional, but you can laminate each mat with clear contact paper. I recommend you do this if you are wanting to keep the placemats!
-Enough happy little gobblers to get the job done by the time dinner is served!

You can also let them make napkin rings with the cardstock as well. Simply cut the card stock into wide strips. Probably 2 inches wide. Let the kiddos decorate each strip, then roll up your cloth (or paper) napkins. Wrap the strip around the napkin and fasten with double sided sticky tape. I wouldn't use glue because it will have to be held together while the glue sets up. Double sided sticky tape is going to be much faster, less messy and easier!

And there you have an idea to keep those little hands happy while you work on that non-lumpy gravy! (by the way, does anyone know how to make non-lumpy gravy?) =)