Thanksgiving Ideas for Kids: Including Kids in Thanksgiving Menu Planning

Thanksgiving Ideas for Kids

Many times, we adults take Thanksgiving menus completely into our own hands.  As much as Christmas is about the kids, sometimes Thanksgiving is especially about the adults...gathering everyone, all ages close, but reliving the memories of our own childhoods, and enjoying the time to get together with siblings, parents, and others who have impacted and formed our lives. 

The intense amount of cooking and baking involved in the occasion preclude children from extreme involvement, and sometimes, the mere task of gathering ingredients, and preparing everything on the set timetable lends itself to our preoccupation with the feast.  However, kids love the chance to be included, and are capable helpers, with age appropriate tasks.

Letting the children help with the menu is a simple kid-friendly Thanksgiving idea that provides a safe activity, family interaction, and a sense of being an important part of things.  There are lots of ways to go about it, but following is my approach.

1.  Starting at least a month ahead of Thanksgiving, we begin to think about what dishes we love, and want to be sure to include.  My kids especially love the desserts, as do I, and so our first focus is almost always on what Thanksgiving pies to make.

2.  At the beginning of November, we are looking at what family arrangements are taking place, and where the gathering will be.  If ours is the host home, we begin planning a full menu, making a large list on the wall.  If it will be away, we talk about what we want to bring to the family gathering, and prepare a less extensive list.

3.  As the dishes are formulated, a second list is begun, including the ingredients needed.  The kids help in organizing this. 

4.  Throughout November, we assemble non-perishables from week to week, and the kids help to check them off of our lists, and organize in a designated space, which could be a cabinet, or a storage bin.

5.  The kids get to include favorites that they love to eat, and/or make.  There is almost always a simple fruit salad that the kids can easily help with, and my older children are now adept at baking, which makes pie preparation easy.  If you don't have an older force of helpers, do what you can, letting kids stir, when able, and helping them to respect the danger of hot plates and casserole dishes when necessary.

6.  Think of some hands on Thanksgiving activities for kids that will occupy them while you are intent on your biggest kitchen work times.  Coloring pages, decorations, Thanksgiving videos...all of these are ways to occupy their time.  Mini activity stations can provide some diversions for the prep, and for the after the meal time when adults love to visit.

Mashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving: From Scratch, or From a Box?

I love mashed potatoes, and so do my children.  When it's Thanksgiving, you can't seem to put enough of them on the table, and so it makes sense to help older children learn about the process of making their own mashed potatoes.  However, some of the preparation is beyond the manual skills of younger children.  While my 9-10 year olds can handle a butter knife, I'm not quite comfortable with their skills at peeling and paring.  My 12 and up crew are fine, for handling potato peeling, and as well, are capable of working at the stove to boil.  Ages 14 and up, I'm confident, can drain hot liquid from the cooked potatoes, and can use the hand mixer to mash. 

For an easier alternative, if I want to include my younger children in making mashed potatoes, I defer to a box.  The other reason for this choice, when I make it, is time or space constraints.  It's much faster to boil water and add flakes, isn't it?  While it may feel like cheating, in a busy society, sometimes a Mom needs to buy herself some time!

For ages 4-10, this is a great way to work on measuring skills, and for the upper end of that age group, to work on calculations.  While the 4 year old may need a little help pouring a cup of liquid, it's still a way to include that youngster in the process.  Count outloud as you go.  If you are heating the liquids on the stovetop, the youngster will need to stand back, a bit, but once the liquids are ready, you can remove the pan to the table, and allow your child to add the potato flakes, and to stir.  This is a quick process, takes only a little time to allow your child to participate, and provides the chance for your youngster to shine, when you proudly announce their work on the dish to your guests.

Cranberry Sauces: From Scratch, or From the Can?

I grew up in a household where we always made our Cranberry Sauces from scratch, at Thanksgiving.  As a youngster, I loved to watch the process, and to help stir, as I grew old enough.  The smell, the sight, and the experience permeate my memories, much as the scent of freshly cooked cranberries permeated the house, mingled with the aroma of turkey. 

As a Mom, sometimes I defer to the canned, jellied cranberry sauce, a much different product, with a different texture and appearance, altogether.  My kids prefer this to the Cranberry sauce that Grandma brings, though they will eat it.  It's a matter of taste, I guess.  If you compare the two, the canned product has a slightly milder taste, compared to the home cooked Cranberry Sauce.  Sometimes, it's a matter of pricing, and the frozen cranberries required for making the sauce from scratch are a little more expensive than a couple of cans. 

I think it's great to expose the kids to both variations, and to give them perspective on the source of the two sauces.  If you want to include your children in making Cranberry Sauce from scratch, it's easy, but exercise caution with younger than 10 year olds.  The cranberries burst, and splatter, as they cook, which is part of the fun of making from scratch cranberry sauce...the hot sugar in the pan will pose a burning hazard, though, so younger children need to be supervised very carefully, and not left alone near this dish. 

Ingredients:
12 oz. frozen or fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

Rinse the cranberries, remove any bad cranberries, and place your good cranberries in a heavy saucepan.  Add water and sugar, and heat, bringing to a boil, and reducing, to simmer.  Continue to simmer until all cranberries have popped, or broken, stirring frequently to prevent scorching or burning.  Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate.

Quantity will be approximately 2 1/4 cups, for a small Thanksgiving dinner this will be sufficient, especially if children are part of the group, due to the strong flavor.  For a larger gathering, double or triple the recipe.

The Relish Tray

Kids will love to help put a relish tray together, and with the convenience of being able to purchase prepared cold veggies, these days, it's much easier than in my childhood.  A few basics include baby carrots, celery sticks, chilled olives, chilled midget pickles (dill and sweet), and other simple favorites, if you so desire.  Ages 8 and up can usually operate an electric can opener, but do supervise the handling of lids and the draining of liquids, if you aren't sure.  Jars may require an adult or teen to open.  Otherwise, arranging of relishes can be a creative endeavor. 

There are many types of relish trays to work with.  If your family enjoys routing for a fave football team, you might want to do relishes on a football themed serving tray, for fun.  Some families create a huge tray of veggies, and others section them off into small arrangements to place directly on the table.  Color coordination is great, but clear crystal relish trays, or elegant Nambe pieces can be very pretty.

Kids in the Kitchen: Thanksgiving Planning and Cautions

Kids love to help with Thanksgiving dinner preparation, but on the big day, they are sometimes underfoot, and it's not as easy to take time to include children in all of your Thanksgiving activities.  However, it's still important that the interested child have the chance to help...after all, that youngster will be your greatest ally someday, as a key helper, or main chef! 

There are many side dishes and desserts that can be prepared ahead of the big Thanksgiving feast.  Cool Whip Fruit Salads are easy, and only require opening of cans, defrosting of Cool Whip.  A child of age 4, and up, can dump ingredients into a bowl, and may be able to stir some.  A 6-7 year old will be able to stir appropriately, and by age 8, your child can probably operate an electric can opener.  By age 10, your youngster will be able to completely assemble that Cool Whip fruit salad, and at age 12, should be able to tell you the ingredients needed at the store.  If you begin from early years with that youngster in the kitchen, on this one simple dish, you will find that by the teen years, he or she can even improvise a little bit.

Pie preparation is a bit challenging for children, but from age 4, and up, most children can easily pour a given pre-measured ingredient into a bowl.  Ages 8 and up should be able to measure most ingredients.  Ages 12 and up should be able to prepare the filling for pies, with some supervision, and by age 14, a child is usually capable of preparing fillings without supervision.  If the child has helped with pie crusts, it's possible that the 14 year old may also be able to make a crust, but I know many adults who have trouble making crusts from scratch, so a pre-made crust is a great way to enable the teen to make the full pie!

Hot foods can be dangerous for younger children to help with, and I reserve the helping with these items for teenagers only.  Cutting depends on the child, but again, this is generally reserved for my teens to help with.  Thanksgiving Day food preparation for younger children can include arrangement of a relish tray, placing crackers and cheeses, and other appetizers on plates, and setting of the table. 

Including your younger children in the days preceding Thanksgiving Dinner will allow them to learn about working in the kitchen, and providing helpful things that they can do on the actual day of the celebration keeps them busy, and helps them to participate in the excitement of the activity.

How Do You Make Green Cool Whip Fruit Salad? An Easy Thanksgiving Side Dish for Kids to Help With

Green Cool Whip Fruit Salad is a favorite in our household, and is a flexible dessert-like side dish for Thanksgiving, one which is always made by one or more of my kids.  In fact, I love to assign this dish to one of the boys in the household, because the girls tend to dominate the kitchen through the year, and this gives my sons a chance to shine.

 

For a big batch of this Cool Whip Salad, we use the following:

 

• 2 Containers of Cool Whip, defrosted
• 2 small packages Pistachio Pudding Mix (Jello brand, or generic)...buy it early, as it is often missing from the store shelves the week of Thanksgiving
• 2 small cans of Mandarin Orange Slices, drained
• 1 can Crushed Pineapple, drained
• 1 jar Maraschino Cherries, drained and stems removed
• 1 bag Mini Marshmallows

 

 

Into a large bowl, empty the Cool Whip.  Sprinkle the pudding mix over the Cool Whip, and fold it in.  Don't stir too hard, or the Cool Whip may break down a bit.  Add fruit, and fold in.  Add marshmallows, and fold in.  Cover, and refrigerate.

 

This side dish for Thanksgiving can be made ahead a day, so the activity in the kitchen on the actual Thanksgiving Day is minimized. 

 

Ages 12 and up can make this on their own.
Ages 10-11 can usually make this side dish with a little supervision.
Ages 6-9 can assist in making this dish, but may need a little help here and there, particularly with mixing the ingredients.
Ages 4-5 are able to help add ingredients, and may be able to stir a little at the start.

Traditional American Pies

Fannie Farmer

One of my favorite family fun activities, when it comes to our Thanksgiving Menu, is trying recipes for traditional American pies.  My Fannie Farmer Baking Book is my main go-to resource, and my favorite, to date, is Shoefly Pie.  My least favorite is Vinegar Pie.  Simple ingredients are used in many of these pie recipes, achieving favorite flavors of sweet and sour.  The vinegar pie is too sour for me.  The shoefly, fun because of its name.

If you are hunting for a copy of the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, Amazon Used books is one possible source, as I don't believe it is in print, at this time.  You can also try Fannie Farmer Cookbooks (click the photo above for current pricing and details).  You may also want to investigate The Fannie Farmer Junior Cookbook for Kindle.

Pie Crust: From Scratch, or Store Bought?

Pies of all sorts don the Thanksgiving Menu of most families, and children love to watch the process of baking pies.  If your childhood was anything like mine, you loved watching Mom mix the dough, roll it out, and turn out several beautiful pie crusts.  However, I didn't learn by osmosis, and I never made the pies, just mixed the fillings.  I don't make very good pie crusts.  I try, but with minimal success.  I couldn't tell the difference between flaky and tough if my life depended on it.  Still, I feel guilty at the costs of store bought pie crusts, and waver back and forth...do I or don't I make my own crusts?

My perspective has become more that it's okay to have an imperfect pie crust, and to provide a fun experience for the kids, and myself.  Some years, that means I make the best from scratch crusts that I can, and let the kids help.  Some years, that means that my teenagers get to try their hands at making crusts.  Some years, it means saving myself time, and splurging on fancy Marie Calendar's crusts.  There isn't a rule, other than the unwritten one, of trying a multitude of interesting pie recipes, eating too much pie through the next week, and bonding with my youngsters in culinary adventures.  My Thanksgiving Menu must, at all costs, include lots of laughs and love!

Traditional, or Traditions? Thanksgiving Menus mean Fun!

When you have a houseful of family around for Thanksgiving, it's inevitable that the kids are going to want to join the activity in the kitchen.  There's a big balancing act for the cook in charge, as youngsters don't always have the dexterity and understanding needed to help effectively, but in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, they really want to participate.  Meanwhile, as the individual responsible for the outcome, you as the cook may be pressed for time, and concerned for quality.

Opportunity to participate in the kitchen work that leads to that Traditional Thanksgiving Meal gives youngsters hands on experience that they will remember for a lifetime.  They may not learn to make the perfect pie crust by osmosis, but they will never forget the energy and excitement of watching it all happen.  The sights and smells don't require a video camera...they are etched on the heart.  To that end, this blog, "Thanksgiving Menu Fun for Families" is dedicated to sharing tips and tricks for getting the kids in on the action, from planning, to shopping, to preparing.  Who knows...the experiences may produce that next food personality, who has an idea for every occasion, and a flavor combination to match!