6 Thanksgiving Kids’ Table Ideas

This year, make sure everyone has a comfortable seat at the table on turkey day by setting up a special seating area for the kids. This leaves extra elbow room at the adult table and makes kids feel special because everything is just the right size for them. When you set up a kids table at Thanksgiving, it simplifies the serving tasks and puts everyone closer to favorite foods. It also lets your children sit close to friends and family, making the holiday even more fun and memorable. With a child-sized table and these ideas from us at Pottery Barn Kids, your children and young guests will enjoy sitting at a table that’s just right!

A Finger-Food Feast

Kids get excited at holidays and sometimes want to play more than they want to eat. Prepare for that excitement by making some fun things that are easy for them to munch on with their hands. Set out a colorful water bottle for each child. Finger foods are nice for young children. Slice up thin strips of your child’s favorite veggies. Use tiny Thanksgiving cookie cutters to cut out cheese slices. Set out a tray of colorful, bite-sized, flavored gelatin cubes. Add small serving dishes of adult foods, too, like cubed turkey and green beans.

Kid-Sized Dinnerware

Setting the table is a skill that is useful throughout your whole life. A holiday provides an opportunity to teach your child how to set the Thanksgiving table. Show your child how to set the table with kid-sized dinnerware and utensils. Or, for a fun alternative, switch out the plates with bento-style lunch boxes. Using lunch boxes instead of plates lets each child have the fun of filling the compartments with favorite foods. It also makes it easy to snap a lid on each container if the kids want to go play. Then, when they come back hungry, their fresh food is waiting for them.

Kid-Crafted Decor

Creating special Thanksgiving table decor for kids is easier when you enlist your children’s help. Start the fun a couple days ahead of time by having your kids help make the decorations for the table. Have the kids create turkey place cards if you plan to assign seats. Use a pencil or pen from the pencil case and let the kids trace around their hands with their fingers spread out to form turkey feathers. Then, have them draw in eyes and a beak on the thumb. Write the name of each child you plan to seat at the children’s table on the palm area. The kids can color in the fingers with bright colors.

Wearable Table Decorations

Kids enjoy playing dress up, so why not add some play hats to your list of Thanksgiving table setting ideas? Instead of a centerpiece, set out a small basket of Pilgrim hats and bonnets for the kids to wear while eating. When you get ready to serve the food, just set the basket aside and replace it with the meal. Be sure to capture plenty of fun pictures of the kids for your holiday scrapbook!

Appoint Someone to Watch Over the Kids

If the children attending your holiday meal are fairly young, it helps to have an adult or older child sit at the kids’ table. This helper is also able to assist if there’s a spill or any of the kids need help getting food. Among the Thanksgiving table ideas for kids, this one is especially useful because it helps everything go smoothly. Provide comfortable, low seating like a beanbag chair or ottoman for the helper so they’re able to enjoy eating while helping out with the kids.

A Special Serving Area for Kids

If the table where the children sit is full of food and decorations from this list of kids’ table ideas, set up a kid-sized serving area near the dining table. This is easier because it lets the kids have easy access to the food without needing to pass around serving bowls from the adult table to the kid’s table. A serving buffet, coffee table or desk work perfectly for this.