Sarah’s Rap: I used to be so crafty. No, not the cunning and deceitful variety, but the soap-
making, sewing, homemade-paper and make-cool-stuff-from-scratch kind. This was, of course, before the kids arrived and my free time plummeted at the same pace as my energy. My youngest son though loves art and with several recent craft projects he’s designed and executed without help from anyone, he has inspired me to dig deep and dust off my craft-loving side. The holidays also help to motivate me as this was always the time of year that I’d start making homemade ornaments, prepare for lots of creative cookie making and make gifts for friends and family. I’m not sure I’m quite that ambitious this year, but I am very excited about this fall craft that will be perfect for Thanksgiving.

This project combines three of my favorite things – crafts, fall and party games. My boys and I cut out colorful paper leaves and I let the boys decorate them. On the back, we put fun table topics of different categories: jokes, trivia, truth or dare and charades. We’re hosting a small dinner party on Thanksgiving and these will be the perfect addition to our holiday table. I hope this brings a little fun and laughter to your Thanksgiving table too!

The best thing about this, in my opinion (other than the easy-factor), is that it’s so versatile! Different color paper and shapes and it can be used for any holiday or occasion. The table topics can be a mix of things to inspire fun and hilarity in your dinner companions. For those planning a bachelorette party, I am picturing some very suggestive shapes with some naughty dares and bawdy jokes. Oh how I wish I knew someone that was getting married. Oh wait… this would work at a Valentine’s dinner with a significant other or a Naughty and Nice adult Christmas party where everyone brings a sexy gag gift. Hmmm… wonder if my sitter is free one night next month..? Well, I digress and this is supposed to be a family craft, but as you can see, the potential for this craft is limitless. Let me know in the comments what you do with it! Or if you have any topics that were really popular with your guests!

Fall Table Topics

Supplies:

• 8 sheets colored paper or cardstock in fall colors (rust/deep red, orange, green, brown, yellow)
• Black pen
• Leaf Pattern – I used this one from firstpalete.com
• Scissors
• optional: glue stick, glitter, colored pens

Instructions:

Print the leaf pattern out directly on the colored papers. Put your kids to work with scissors. This is where you grab your favorite beverage and sit back and watch. 🙂

Once the leaf shapes are all cut out, have the kids decorate the tops with the colored pens – making leafy veins and spots for a realistic look, or rubbing with a glue stick and sprinkling with glitter. If
you use glitter, wait for the leaves to dry before moving onto the  next step.

For the Table Topics, flip the leaves over to the undecorated side and write out items in any of the following categories:

• Trivia
• Jokes
• Truth or Dare
• Items to act out in charades
• Conversation
  starters

For ideas on what to put on the back, check out these sites which I used:

• Thanksgiving Jokes
• Autumn Charades
• More Thanksgiving Jokes
• Even more Thanksgiving Jokes
• Thanksgiving Trivia
• Kid-Friendly Trivia
• Kid-Friendly Truth Questions
• Dares
• Clean Jokes and Puns

If you’re doing a theme other than Fall/Thanksgiving, a myriad of sites are just an Internet search away!

Let the fun begin!

The final step is to put them topic-side down onto your dining table next time you host a party or dinner. Everyone can take turns picking one up and reading it out loud.

• For charades, the person that picks the leaf has to act out the word or phrase
• For jokes, they can read the joke, pause dramatically, then reveal the punchline
• For trivia, read aloud the question and see if anyone can guess the correct answer
• For truth-or-dare, ask someone “Trust or Dare?” Depending on which they choose read the corresponding item from the back and then watch and listen as they either confess to the truth or act out the dare.

Optional Scoring:

You can even have a point-system where those that get the most trivia, guess the most jokes, successfully get people to guess their charade or takes part in Truth or Dare can keep their leaves. At the end, tally them up and whoever has the most leaves gets a prize. For this version, make sure everyone gets to try the same number of topics to make it fair and have a pile for discarding leaves when people get it wrong or refuse the Truth or Dare.

If you have some ideas of your own, please share them! I’d love to hear!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sarah

I love this idea! It is fun and festive and a great conversation starter for your favorite holiday. I love how it can be used for so many different hoildays and events. Just change up the shapes and you’ve got a fun game to play with your guests. Great idea, Sarah! Love, M