Fall Crafting with Kids and Oriental Trading Kits

Disclaimer - This review is based strictly on my opinion and experiences using these products. Your experience or opinions of the reviewed product my differ from my own. I was provided sample craft kits free of charge to make with my children by the company or PR agency. No other type of compensation was received for this review.

With the Halloween candy sorted and all of our spooky decorations carefully packed away for next year, it is time to start looking towards Thanksgiving. This is one holiday I don't have a box of prepared decorations ready to go. Instead we decided to make our own this year.

With a 6 and 4-year old, I needed craft ideas that would be easy enough for them to tackle on their own, and also didn't require a large investment in supplies. This year I decided to try out a few of the Oriental Trading craft kits to make our house more festive for the holidays.

I loved the Fall Colors Weaving Place Mat Craft Kit. It seemed like a great way to make our table more fun and festive.

These foam strips were a great chance to talk about patterns, following directions and the upcoming holiday meal. It was a great chance to decided what the kids wanted to help me make for our family dinner. We decided on making Grandma's Cranberry Salad.

I helped my 4-year old out a few times with the under, over pattern, but both children were able to make their place mats with only minimal guidance from me. I love projects that let them do-it-themselves. There is such a feeling of accomplishment afterwards.

These kits didn't require any cutting with scissors, the foam was already scored to pull-apart easily, and only required minimal glue.

Weaving was a fun concept for my daughter. I loved projects like this when I was her age.

Since my son is 6, I picked the "Give Thanks" Banner Craft Kit for him. I thought this would make a great gift for his teacher, grandparents and to decorate our home this holiday season. I also made one for myself.

All of the pieces came pre-cut and it required glue for assembling. Both my kids love glitter glue, so we went with that. He was very serious about assembling his banner. I took this opportunity to talk about contrasting and complimentary colors. He did a great job matching letters to contrasting backgrounds.

Each kit came with easy instructions for assembly. My children could assemble most of it just with the pictures. These kits had my kids crafting right away. I didn't have to make them wait while I prepared materials.

We all worked on a Turkey Craft Kit. This kit was colorful and fun. Now we have several turkeys decorating our kitchen and dining room. I gave the kids glue sticks and let them go for it. Each kit was individually wrapped so it was easy to find all the pieces needed easily.

Finally we put together the Turkey Coaster Craft Kit to finish out our Thanksgiving themed table setting. This kit came with foam pieces that already had peel away adhesive backing, so no other supplies were needed for assembly.

This was one of our favorite crafts out of the box and has already been used at our daily table. I can't wait to enjoy them with the whole family on Thanksgiving.

These crafting sessions were the perfect way to get my kids excited about the upcoming holiday and spend some quality crafting time together.

Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the craft kits from Oriental Trading Company. These would  be perfect for church, homeschool lessons, classroom use or to keep all the kids in the family busy on the holiday. The kits I chose only required glue and each set came with spare pieces, just in case.

Most of the kits I chose came in packs of 12, perfect for the whole family to enjoy. We packed up our extra kits and made a gift bag for friends of ours to try out, too.

There are many other great craft ideas and kits available on the website. Be sure to check them all out on the Oriental Trading site,  request a FREE catalog and sign up to receive exclusive offers, promotions and coupons. Connect with them on their Facebook page, Twitter and Pinterest.

Our house is now ready for Thanksgiving, what about yours?

Over the next month I plan to explore more of the craft options available at Oriental Trading including options for Christmas Ornament Gifts and a Gingerbread House Decorating Party. Stay tuned!