10 Engaging thanksgiving crafts and activities that will keep your preschooler and toddler Entertained during the holiday season
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Thanksgiving crafts and activities are a staple on our Family Fall Bucket List every year. Not only are they perfect for keeping the kids engaged and entertained on a rainy fall day, Thanksgiving crafts also hold great educational potential. While crafting and enjoying quality time with your children, you can talk about what the holiday means to you and your family and teach your children about Thanksgiving traditions.
I have put together a list of 10 engaging Thanksgiving crafts and activities your toddler will love.
Thankful Turkey
Every year, during the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving we craft and hang up our ‘thankful turkey’. It is a perfect daily activity to teach your young children about being thankful. You simply cut out a very simple shaped turkey body and different colored turkey feathers. Hang up the turkey’s body and every day write something your child is thankful for on a turkey feather and add it to your turkey. Your young children may need help understanding what being ‘thankful’ means. I like to ask my toddler to tell me what makes her happy, which is easier for young kids to understand.
A tip: if you laminate the turkey feathers and use dry erase markers, you can re-use them every year.
Turkey Headband Craft
This is a very simple craft that can be done with materials you already have at home. All you need to make a cute turkey headband is colored paper, scissors and glue. You can either draw the pieces yourself or use the free printable template provided at the link above. This craft is also very easily adaptable to different ages. My almost 5 year old cuts out her own pieces, my 2 year old just glues together pre-cut pieces. No matter what age, your kids will love wearing these cute headbands.
Turkey Handprint
If you have read previous posts you already know that I LOVE handprint crafts. Having little keepsakes to remember how little my kids were and seeing how much their hand grows every year is just so special. We have done this turkey handprint every fall since my daughter was born. It’s easy and quick, all you need is paper, finger paint and a black pen. I have laminated my kids handprint turkey and added magnetic tape squares so we can hang them on the fridge during thanksgiving time before putting them away in the kids’ keepsake boxes.
Coffee FilTer turkey
Coffee filter turkeys are great for children who don’t have the greatest fine motor skills yet. It’s also perfect for moms who do not like to use paint with their toddlers. Instead of paint you use do-a-dot markers that can easily be handled by young children. Each turkey is unique so your kids will love to do this activity multiple times.
sponge painted thanksgiving turkey craft
Image by: theresourcefulmama.com
This sponge painted turkey is a great craft even for very young toddlers. My kids love using little sponges or even pom poms dipped in paint to create colorful art pieces. Older toddlers and preschoolers can cut out the turkey body themselves, younger toddlers will need you to assist them with cutting.
Thanksgiving stickers
My 2 and 4 year old love sticker! And so do I. They are mess-free, keep the kids entertained for quite a while and are small enough to take along. When we are eating out in restaurants I always have a small sticker activity in my diaper bag so the kids are occupied and I get to eat my dinner in peace (most of the time). This Thanksgiving themed sticker set is perfect for keeping kids occupied during Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving dinners so you can hopefully enjoy your meal uninterruptedly.
Pass the turkey thanksgiving game
Pass the turkey is a fun game for not just toddlers and preschoolers, it can be enjoyed by the entire family. All you need is a turkey stuffed animal such as this one. You will pass the turkey around while music plays. The person holding the turkey when the music stops is eliminated. Repeat until only one player is left. You can even give out a small prize to the winner.
color by number thanksgiving printables
If you’re looking for an activity to keep kids entertained during your Thanksgiving party, you need to look at these color by number printables. They are free and numbers reach from 1 to 10, which is great for preschoolers. Toddlers will enjoy coloring the pictures in without following the numbers. Print the images, set out some colored pencils and you are ready to go.
thanksgiving coloring poster
Coloring posters are another great mess-free activity to keep kids engaged and entertained during Thanksgiving dinner. All you need is colored pencils and kids of all ages can enjoy coloring in Thanksgiving themed items.
Feed the turkey
Pom pom activities are always so much fun, because who doesn’t love the soft fun colored little balls. You need an empty bottle, pom pom balls, plastic tongs, googly eyes, construction paper and glue. Cut out feathers and a beak and glue to the bottle to make a turkey. Add googly eyes to finish your turkey’s face. Now pour pom poms in a container and let your child use tongs to transfer the pom poms into the bottle. Kids, that have not mastered using tongs yet, can also use their hands to transfer the pom poms.
