These Thanksgiving crafts for kids are simple, cheap and perfect for keeping little hands busy while the turkey roasts. You’ll find 30 easy ideas organized by age, from toddler handprint turkeys to thankful projects and last-minute crafts.
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Before You Start Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
- Supervise young kids and handle hot glue and sharp scissors yourself.
- Choking hazard: googly eyes, beads and dried corn or beans aren’t safe for children under three.
- Gather nature supplies: leaves, pinecones and acorns from a fall walk are free craft materials.
- Set up a craft station on Thanksgiving morning so kids have something to do while adults cook.
Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers
These Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers (ages 1 to 3) focus on painting, stamping and sticking.
1. Handprint Turkey
Paint each finger a different fall color and the palm brown, then press it on paper. Add a beak and eyes once dry. Write your child’s name and the year for a keepsake.
2. Footprint Turkey
Paint the bottom of your toddler’s foot brown and press it on paper, heel at the top, then add colorful painted feathers around it. It’s a sweet keepsake for grandparents. Have wipes ready.
3. Leaf Contact Paper Collage
Tape contact paper sticky side up and let toddlers press on leaves they collected. Seal with another sheet and hang it in a window. No glue, no mess.
4. Sponge-Stamped Pumpkins
Cut a sponge into a circle, dip it in orange paint and stamp pumpkins on paper. Add green stems with a marker. It’s easy and builds hand strength.
5. Paper Plate Turkey
Paint a paper plate brown and help toddlers glue on paper feather shapes around the edge. Add a paper face. It’s a classic that works for every age.
6. Corn Painting
Roll a dried or fresh corn cob in paint and let toddlers roll it across paper for a fun texture. Hold the cob with a fork in each end for easy grip. It’s a sensory craft they’ll love.
Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Preschoolers
These easy Thanksgiving crafts for preschoolers (ages 3 to 5) build cutting, gluing and counting skills.
7. Pinecone Turkey
Glue colorful paper or felt feathers behind a pinecone, add googly eyes and a small beak. Kids can collect the pinecones on a walk. Make one for each place at the table.
8. Paper Bag Turkey Puppet
Glue a paper face and wattle onto the bottom flap of a brown lunch bag and add paper feathers to the back. Kids can put on a puppet show. It’s great for classrooms.
9. Toilet Paper Roll Turkey
Paint a cardboard tube brown and glue a fan of paper feathers on the back. Add eyes, a beak and wattle. Save rolls in the weeks before.
10. Leaf Turkey
Glue real leaves in a fan on paper as feathers, then add a paper turkey body in the middle. Press the leaves in a book overnight first so they lie flat. Every turkey looks different.
11. Thankful Turkey Feathers
Cut paper feathers and help kids write or draw one thing they’re thankful for on each. Glue them to a paper turkey. Read them aloud at dinner.
12. Paper Plate Pie
Paint a paper plate orange with a brown edge for a pumpkin pie, then add cotton ball “whipped cream.” Cut it into slices for a fraction lesson. It’s a cute play food craft.
13. Popsicle Stick Corn
Glue yellow pom-poms or yellow tissue paper balls onto a craft stick and add green paper husks. It’s great for fine motor practice. Use large pom-poms for younger kids.
14. Mayflower Paper Boat
Cut a boat shape from brown paper, add a craft stick mast and white paper sails, and glue it on a blue paper ocean. Talk about the story of the first Thanksgiving. Older kids can write the year on the sail.
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Fun Thanksgiving Crafts for School-Age Kids
School-age kids enjoy these Thanksgiving crafts with a little more detail.
15. Turkey Napkin Rings
Cut cardboard tubes into rings, wrap them in brown paper and glue on small paper feathers and faces. Kids make one for every guest. It’s a craft that becomes part of the table.
16. Handprint Thankful Wreath
Trace and cut handprints from orange, red and yellow paper, write something thankful on each, and glue them in a circle on a paper plate ring. Hang it on the door. Everyone in the family can add a hand.
17. Indian Corn Bead Craft
Thread brown, orange, red and yellow pony beads onto a pipe cleaner and add a raffia husk at the top to look like Indian corn. Hang them as decorations. Great for practicing patterns.
18. Coffee Filter Leaves
Color coffee filters with washable markers, spray them lightly with water and watch the colors blend, then cut them into leaf shapes when dry. Hang them in a window. It’s a mini science lesson.
19. Thankful Jar
Decorate a jar with ribbon and a label, then have the family add notes of what they’re thankful for all November. Read them on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a lovely tradition.
20. Turkey Place Cards
Fold cardstock into tent cards and draw or glue a small turkey on each with a guest’s name. Kids feel proud seeing their work on the table. Let them decorate them however they like.
21. Pumpkin Seed Mosaic
Glue dried or painted pumpkin seeds onto cardboard in a pumpkin, leaf or turkey design. Paint some seeds first for color. Seeds are a choking hazard for very young kids.
22. Gratitude Tree
Stand bare branches in a vase or jar weighted with rocks and let kids hang paper leaves with things they’re grateful for. Add new leaves each day in November. It makes a beautiful centerpiece.
Last-Minute Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
Out of time? These last-minute Thanksgiving crafts use paper and things you already have.
23. Paper Chain Turkey
Make a short paper chain in fall colors and glue it in loops behind a paper turkey face as feathers. It uses only paper and glue. Kids can count the links.
24. Fold-and-Color Turkey Cards
Fold paper into a card, draw a turkey on the front and write a thank-you message inside for a relative. It’s quick and meaningful. Grandparents love receiving them.
25. Leaf Rubbings
Place leaves under paper and rub over them with the side of a crayon to reveal the veins. Cut out the shapes for place mats or decorations. It works with any leaves.
26. Paper Plate Pilgrim Hat
Paint a paper plate black, add a black paper hat crown and a yellow paper buckle. Kids can wear it or hang it up. It’s fast and fun for photos.
Thanksgiving Crafts That Teach Thankfulness
These crafts help kids think about gratitude, a lovely focus for the holiday.
27. Thankful Placemats
Kids draw and write things they’re thankful for on paper placemats, then you laminate them or cover them with clear contact paper. Use them at dinner. Keep them as a yearly record.
28. Gratitude Paper Pumpkin
Cut orange paper strips, write a thankful word on each and glue the ends together into a 3D pumpkin. Add a green stem. Set it on the windowsill.
29. Thank-You Notes for Helpers
Help kids make simple cards for teachers, mail carriers or neighbors to say thank you. Deliver them the week of Thanksgiving. It teaches kids that gratitude goes beyond the family.
30. Gratitude Garland
Cut leaf shapes, have each family member write a thankful note on several, and string them on twine. Hang it over the fireplace or table. It grows all month.
Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids FAQ
What are easy Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers?
Handprint and footprint turkeys, sponge-stamped pumpkins and leaf collages on contact paper are easy and safe for toddlers with supervision.
What Thanksgiving crafts can I do in a classroom?
Paper bag turkey puppets, thankful turkey feathers and coffee filter leaves work well for groups because they use cheap, simple supplies.
How can I keep kids busy on Thanksgiving Day?
Set up a craft station with paper, crayons, glue and pre-cut feathers so kids can make place cards, napkin rings and thankful turkeys while adults cook.
What are good thankfulness crafts for kids?
Thankful jars, gratitude trees, thankful placemats and gratitude garlands help kids think about what they’re grateful for.
More ideas: our Thanksgiving table decor, kid-friendly Thanksgiving centerpieces, and all kids crafts.
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Photos are illustrative stock images from Pixabay. Prices are approximate and were checked at the time of writing.
