Pilgrim Place Cards

Total Time Needed:: 1 Hour

Here's a pop-up card design your kids can use to transform their thumbprints into Pilgrim portraits that resemble your dinner guests. Then everyone can find his or her place, and face, at the dinner table.

Materials

Card stock
Scissors
Pencil
Tempera paint

Colored markers
Gold glitter glue
Craft knife

Instructions

Cut out a 5-by-4-inch rectangle from the card stock for each place card, plus one extra. Fold each card in half so that the 4-inch edges meet, and flatten the crease. Then reopen all of the cards.
In the center of the extra card, draw a Pilgrim hat, positioning it so that the top is above the fold and the brim is just below it, as shown. Cut it out and use it as a template, tracing it in pencil onto the centers of the remaining cards (again, trace the top of each hat above the fold and the brim just below it).
Once all of the hats are drawn, have your child lightly coat her thumb with skin-toned tempera paint and print a Pilgrim's head below each hat (have her practice a few times on scrap paper first).
When the paint is dry, your child can use the markers to color in the hats, draw on collars, add facial features and hairdos that resemble those of specific family members, and print their names. Then she can adorn each hat with a glitter-glue buckle.
Finally, use the craft knife (this is a parent's job) to cut along the outer edge of each hat top but not around the brim. Refold the cards, gently pulling up the hat tops to stand upright, as shown, and they're ready to set in place on the dinner table.