Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
Let’s celebrate Turkey Day with a few fun crafts for the kids! In fact, we have an entire month—30 Thanksgiving crafts for kids—to keep the little ones entertained all November long. You’ll find lots of turkeys, of course, but also some Pilgrims, corn, and even a Mayflower craft thrown into the mix.
Cute Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
The great thing about Thanksgiving is that it isn’t one of those over-the-top holidays. The focus is on family, friends, togetherness, and gratitude, so it’s a terrific opportunity to spend some quiet time with the kids and craft together as a family.
Thanksgiving Turkey Craft with Accordion Legs from Craft Play Learn:
With a few basic craft supplies and our printable template, you can make this turkey craft in no time! It’s perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. Cutting the shapes and folding the accordion legs is excellent fine motor practice for little hands.
Rainbow Thanksgiving Turkey from The Inspiration Edit:
A template is provided for this colorful turkey craft to make cutting out the shapes so easy! Using lots of different colors in the tail feathers is a fun way to practice color identification with toddlers and preschoolers.
Thanksgiving Clay Pot Turkeys from The Inspiration Edit:
Here’s a fun project that older kids can help with to make some decor for the home or the porch. It’s a terrific way to repurpose your terra cotta pots for autumn.
DIY Thanksgiving Puzzles from The Inspiration Edit:
Build your own Thanksgiving puzzles using popsicle sticks and paint markers. Don’t worry if drawing isn’t your thing. You can keep it simple by making a turkey leg or a Pilgrim hat, etc. Either way, the kids will have lots of fun putting these puzzles together.
Turkey Windsock from Happiness is Homemade:
These turkey windsocks are completely adorable! Make one for yourself using a tin can and a few other craft supplies, such as paint, ribbon, and feathers. Won’t he look terrific hanging from the porch or a tree branch for your guests to see when they pop over for Thanksgiving dinner?
Turkeys of a Different Feather Craft of Inclusion from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary:
Teach kids about the importance of inclusion with a fun turkey-themed craft and lesson. Use the turkey puppets to show that those with different traditions, circumstances, etc. Plus, who doesn’t love finger puppets? Use them to re-tell some of your favorite turkey-themed stories.
Thankful Turkey Craft from A Dab of Glue Will Do:
Sometimes, we tend to forget what Thanksgiving is meant to celebrate—the things we are grateful for. Not only does this project give kids the chance to engage in a creative activity, but they’ll reflect on gratitude as well. It’s a terrific craft for the classroom or at home.
Doily Turkey Craft from I Heart Crafty Things:
If you’re looking for an incredibly easy craft for your toddler or preschooler, try this doily turkey! Little ones will love decorating the doily with their dot markers.
Corn Craft and Counting Activity from Stay at Home Educator:
If you’re just not into turkey crafts, try this corn craft instead. Not only is it a fun kids craft, but it’s also an activity that builds on counting, number identification, and fine motor skills.
Turkey Salt Painting from Natural Beach Living:
Here’s a neat process art activity that your kids may not have tried before. Kids will paint over an outline made with glue and salt, which adds an interesting texture to the project.
Thanksgiving Pilgrim Hats from Craft Create Cook:
Make cute Pilgrim hat decorations with the kids using plastic cups, paint, and felt for embellishments. They’ll look adorable on your table for Thanksgiving Day.
Indian Corn Craft from Fantastic Fun and Learning:
This fine motor painting activity pairs wonderfully with the Five Kernels of Corn legend. It’s also a fantastic conversation prompt for talking about ways the Native Americans used corn and why it’s associated with Thanksgiving.
Turkey Treat Bag from The Simple Parent:
Make turkey treat bags for your child’s class or for giving out to your guests who visit on Thanksgiving. The kids can help put these cuties together in no time. You’ll need small bags, felt, and googly eyes for this project.
Mandarin Turkey Craft from Modern Mom Life:
Need a healthy snack for the kids that’s still festive at the same time? These turkeys made with mandarin oranges fit the bill! If you’re worried about the glue coming into contact with the orange rind, you may opt for a food-grade adhesive instead.
Lego Indian Corn Craft from Powerful Mothering:
This Indian corn craft gets its textured look by stamping paint with LEGOs. Isn’t that fun? With just construction paper, scissors, glue, paint, and a few LEGOs, the kids can make this in no time.
Paper Plate Turkey Craft with Tissue Paper from Artsy Crafty Mom:
Grab a paper plate and some tissue paper to make this cool, colorful turkey! The layering of the different colors of tissue paper creates such a pretty effect on the tail feathers.
Cardboard Tube Indian Corn from Kenarry:
Save your toilet rolls or paper towel rolls to make these fun cobs of Indian corn! It looks like corn that’s still in the husk.
Foam Turkey Craft from Artsy Momma:
Mess-free crafts are perfect for those days when you need a kid-friendly activity but just can’t deal with one more mess. Even the tiny bit of paint can be substituted with markers instead.
Thanksgiving Turkey Cootie Catcher from Red Ted Art:
Remember making cootie catchers in school? This version is a turkey instead of a fortune teller. Kids can use them to act out the Five Little Turkeys song or some turkey stories.
Paper Bag Pilgrim Craft from Our Kid Things:
Celebrate the holiday with a lesson on the Pilgrims. These paper bag puppets are fun to make and play with, and the printable template makes the sizing of the pieces a little easier.
Handprint Turkey Craft from Fun Handprint Art:
Pilgrims plus turkeys in one cute craft! This is a festive Thanksgiving craft to save for the scrapbook to look back on those little hands in future years.
Shape Turkey Craft from Messy Little Monster:
Help preschoolers identify and cut their shapes with this simple shape turkey craft made with circles, triangles, and rectangles.
Watercolor Turkey Craft from Projects with Kids:
When you think of turkey crafts, watercolors probably never entered your mind, but they should! Liquid watercolors are a bit more vivid, and the green, yellow, orange and red paints blend beautifully for the turkey feathers.
Turkey Suncatchers from Stay at Home Educator:
Let the autumn sunlight stream through your windows and the feathers on this cute turkey suncatcher. It’s a terrific preschool-level craft!
Elbow Macaroni Turkey Craft from I Heart Crafty Things:
Kids love crafts that involve pasta. For this one, you’ll paint elbow macaroni to make a fantastically colorful and textured turkey. The layers of macaroni mimic the texture of bird feathers.
Mayflower Paper Plate Craft from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary:
You may not traditionally think of a ship as a Thanksgiving craft, but the Mayflower, which brought the Pilgrims over to North America, is a terrific way to fit in another history lesson in a fun and engaging way during the Thanksgiving season.
Easy Corn Cob Painting Craft for Kids from Natural Beach Living:
Toddlers and preschoolers will love painting with a corn cob! It creates a fun print over the paper, and the print can then be used as a background for other Thanksgiving crafts or even as wrapping paper for a gift for someone with a November birthday.
Thanksgiving Turkey Cork Crafts from Craft Create Cook:
Save the wine corks from your fall get-togethers to make this cute Thanksgiving cork turkey. You could attach a magnet to the back to put it on the fridge or a ring of fabric to use them as napkin rings for dinner.
Turkey Finger Puppet from Red Ted Art:
Made with only construction paper and googly eyes, these cute finger puppets are so easy to make! It would be an excellent choice for a craft for the kids’ table at Thanksgiving dinner to keep the little ones entertained before or after dinner.
Cardboard Roll Fall Leaf Turkey Craft from Our Kid Things:
Bring nature into your Thanksgiving crafts. Gather some colorful fall leaves from your yard to make these cardboard roll and leaf turkeys. Won’t they look pretty on your table?
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Angela Milnes is a Qualified Early Years Teacher who has specialised in Preschool and Kindergarten teaching. She has a wealth of experience teaching young children and is passionate about kids crafts and having fun as a family. Angela has also taught cooking skills and loves to share both family recipes and easy crafts here on The Inspiration Edit. Follow her on Pinterest!
Your links are not working…or if you don’t provide them it is a total waste of time for busy teachers…
the links are all working just fine. You need to click on the headers/titles of each craft 🙂 Kind regards
Angela Milnes – also a busy mom and qualified teacher! I understand just how busy teaching can be!