Are you a teacher or parent looking for Thanksgiving-themed activities for children? Incorporating a range of versatile activities helps everyone get in the mood for holiday celebrations, and whether you’re looking for a fun turkey craft or simple learning activity for your kindergarteners, we have you covered with 15 amazing options!
1. Color Match Paper Plate Turkey
You’ll need a paper plate and dot stickers for this fun color-matching activity. You can use colored pieces of construction paper, or feel free to color your own white paper to create these turkey feathers. Kids will have so much fun sticking the dot stickers on the correct color.
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2. Pretend Thanksgiving Dinner
While there’s no correct food to eat on Thanksgiving, there certainly are typical Thanksgiving food groups most families tend to eat. The art supplies needed for this fun activity include; cotton balls, an empty brown-paper lunch bag, tissue paper, and some waded-up newspaper. Glue it together and play pretend!
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3. Clothespin Turkey Craft
I love this adorable turkey craft! After painting a paper plate to create the brown body, use a glue stick to adhere to the eyes and nose. Finally, paint the clothespins assorted colors to make a beautiful set of feathers.
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4. Shake Your Tail Feathers
The object of this hilarious game is to shake all your colorful feathers out. Using an old pair of pantyhose, tie an empty tissue box around each learner’s waist. Fill the boxes with an equal number of feathers. Play some fun music for your learners to enjoy as they shake about.
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5. Finish the Pattern
The 2D shapes of these fun candy corn patterns are sure to intrigue your students. Math activities are much more exciting when a piece of candy corn is involved! Use this STEM activity counting sheet to have students work on their math skills.
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6. Pumpkin Seed Turkey Art
Who needs colored paper when you have pumpkin seeds? Amazing crafts like these are hard to come by, so be sure to test this one out! Instruct students to draw a turkey body first, but omit the feathers. Then, glue on colorful pumpkin seeds for an added flare!
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7. Thankful Pumpkin Activity
The thankful pumpkin activity is a classic! Have students write what they are thankful for on long strips of orange-colored paper. Gather all the strips together using a stapler. Finish this adorable activity by gluing leaves on top.
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8. Play the Memory Game
Bored of board games? Try a digital memory game! This Thanksgiving-themed game is great for having fun whilst building memory skills. The game keeps track of your time so you can see who in the class can make all the matches the fastest!
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9. Make Donut Turkeys
Here’s a fun family project that involves making different kinds of food. It’s the perfect activity for the Sunday before Thanksgiving- especially if your family already indulges in weekend donuts. Add some Fruit Loops and you’re ready to go! Who needs Pumpkin Pie when you have donuts?
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10. Play Bingo
Instead of a bingo marker, use candy corn! Bingo is a popular activity for preschoolers and kindergarteners alike, so why not add it to your Thanksgiving activity list? Teachers call out a Thanksgiving item, such as a pumpkin. If students have a pumpkin on their card, they mark it with candy corn. The student who gets five pictures in a row wins!
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11. Yarn Wrapped Turkey Craft
Add this fun activity to your list of sensory activities. This craft allows students to experience many different textures all in one. Have them find the sticks during some guided outside playtime, and the rest of the materials are just basic supplies you’re likely to already have on hand.
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12. Mixed-Up Turkey Collage
Take your turkey craft to the next level with this Picasso challenge! You’ll make this craft for kids by cutting each piece of the turkey’s body. Once complete, add googly eyes or stick with the colored construction paper.
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13. Thanksgiving Worksheets
Thanksgiving worksheets are at their finest with this free printable packet. Holiday-themed worksheets are always more engaging than alphabet cards or writing prompts. Turn these holiday-themed worksheets into a center activity by having one in each station.
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14. Turkey Place Cards
Get the kids excited for this awesome turkey craft by turning it into a family project where everyone makes their own name tag. Two sizes of wooden beads are needed to make the turkey body. Then you’ll need cardstock in whatever feather colors you want, decorative turkey feathers, scissors, and a hot glue gun.
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15. Paint Leaves
Getting outside is always a hit activity for toddlers. Take going outside to the next level by painting whatever leaves you to happen to find while enjoying the outdoors. Turn this into a bookmark activity for your favorite book collection by laminating the best-painted leaves.
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