Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Crafting for special occasions and holidays is often a staple of daycare and preschool, and we’re here for it! These Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers and preschoolers are both adorable as well as engaging. We’ve incorporated some learning activities like sensory bins, into the mix, because who doesn’t love having extra ideas to keep little hands busy? From a sweet classic turkey handprint craft to more unique kids Thanksgiving crafts, we’ve got enough to keep your kiddos busy until the big feast arrives! Happy Thanksgiving crafting!
1. Gratitude & Thankfulness
These Thanksgiving crafts create natural opportunities for conversations about family, friends, kindness and the things children appreciate.
Pumpkin Pie Gratitude Craft
How great this is this pumpkin pie gratitude craft? It’s such a sweet way to combine art, storytelling and gratitude. Ask children what they’re thankful for and write their answers on each “slice.” For a group activity, each child can contribute one piece to create a classroom gratitude pie. Combining art, storytelling, and gratitude, this one is definitely a wonderful preschool Thanksgiving activity!
Thankfulness Tree
We love any and all gratitude activities and opportunities to express thankfulness. That’s why this thankfulness tree Thanksgiving activity is a wonderful collaborative activity that allows children to share and spread thankfulness with each other. Children can decorate leaves with things they’re thankful for, while families can add their own leaves too. Display the finished tree somewhere everyone can see it throughout the season.
Gratitude Pumpkins
Another adorable gratitude craft! You can incorporate this preschooler Thanksgiving craft into learning all about pumpkins, fall and the changing season. These also make a beautiful fall decoration or table centrepiece! Let children decorate pumpkins with drawings, words or pictures representing things they’re thankful for.
Tip: For toddlers who aren’t ready to verbalize what they’re thankful for, offer simple choices or let them draw a picture instead.
2. Creative & Open-Ended Art
The art-based Thanksgiving crafts are perfect for letting children make choices, experiment with materials and create something uniquely their own.
Fall Suncatcher
Add a seasonal Autumn or Fall sun catcher into your weekly craft schedule. Tissue paper, autumn colors and a sunny window make this a great open-ended art activity. Encourage children to choose their own colours and patterns, then display their creations around the centre.
Handprint Turkey Craft
A classic kids Thanksgiving craft for a reason! Is there any better Thanksgiving craft for toddlers and preschoolers? It’s simple, easy to create, requires very minimal materials, and kids love it. Once the handprint is complete, let children add their own colours, patterns and details. Use the opportunity to experiment with color mixing and talk about warm fall colours.
Thanksgiving Handprint Art
Another fun handprint activity that doubles as a keepsake for families. This one from Hello, Wonderful is right up there and sure to be a favourite with the parents. Children can personalize their turkeys with paint, feathers, paper and other materials.
Simple Turkey Paper Bags
Another fun toddler and preschooler Thanksgiving craft are these cute turkey bags. Children can decorate their own turkey bags using paper, feathers, crayons, paint or other craft materials. Talk about colours and encourage them to make their turkey their own.
Tip: For open-ended crafts, resist the temptation to make every finished product look identical. The fun is in the creating!
3. Sensory & Fine Motor Fun
These activities are especially useful for developing hand strength, coordination and sensory awareness while keeping little hands busy.
Beaded Corn
This colourful beaded corn Thanksgiving craft is an amazing way to incorporate fine motor skills. Threading beads onto pipe cleaners is a great fine-motor challenge for preschoolers. Children can practise grasping, threading and pattern-making while creating a colourful fall decoration.
Thanksgiving Sensory Bin
We absolutely love this setup from Toddler at Play. Fill a sensory bin or tuff tray with seasonal materials and let children explore, scoop, pour, sort and discover. Add items such as dried corn, fall-colored pom-poms, pinecones, leaves and child-safe scoops and containers. The amount of engagement and fun this sensory bin will bring is priceless!
Handprint Crafts
Handprint activities naturally add a sensory element through paint and encourage children to explore the feeling of paint on their hands.
Tip: For toddlers, use larger materials that are age-appropriate and supervise closely, particularly with small beads and other loose parts.
4. Nature-Inspired Crafts
Bring the outdoors inside and turn a fall nature walk into part of the creative process with these adorable toddler and preschooler Thanksgiving crafts.
Pinecone Turkeys
Bring nature inside with these pinecone turkeys. Start with a nature walk to collect pinecones, then transform them into little turkeys using feathers, felt and googly eyes. Children can practise observation and collecting before they even begin crafting.
Fall Suncatchers
Collecting colorful fall leaves during a walk can also inspire the colours and shapes children use in their suncatchers. These pumpkin nature suncatchers are a wonderful example!
Nature Collage
Give children paper, glue and a selection of collected fall materials such as leaves, small twigs and pine needles. Let them create their own autumn picture rather than providing a finished example.
5. Seasonal Decorations & Centrepieces
These Thanksgiving seasonal are particularly fun if your center is hosting a Thanksgiving meal or fall celebration.
Mason Jar Leaf Lanterns
This beautiful little craft will make the perfect centerpiece for Thanksgiving tables. Preschoolers can decorate jars with colorful autumn leaves to create a beautiful seasonal decoration. Use a battery-operated tea light rather than a real candle for a child-care setting. If you are hosting a little daycare Thanksgiving feast, these lanterns can also be placed on the table to admire.
Beaded Corn
Once completed, the beaded corn can become colorful table decorations or a classroom fall display. Use this at your special Thanksgiving celebration if you plan to enjoy a little meal together.
Gratitude Pumpkins
Display the finished pumpkins together as a gratitude-themed centrepiece or seasonal bulletin board.
Thankfulness Tree
This can become a larger classroom display that grows throughout the month as children and families add leaves.
A Few More Easy Ideas to Add
Thankful Turkey Feathers
Give each child a paper turkey and let them add one feather for each thing they’re thankful for. Younger toddlers can choose from picture cards instead of writing.
Apple Printing
Cut apples in half and use them as stamps with washable paint. It’s simple, seasonal and gives toddlers a fun way to explore shapes and patterns.
Fall Leaf Collage
Take a nature walk, collect fallen leaves and use them to create a collage. Talk about the different colors, shapes and textures you find.
Pumpkin Seed Art
Save and dry pumpkin seeds and use them for gluing, sorting and creating simple pictures. This can also become a counting activity.
Turkey Colour Sorting
Create colored turkey feathers and have children sort them by colour before attaching them to a turkey. A simple craft that sneaks in some early math skills.
Easy way to plan the activities
You could also structure the week around different developmental focuses:
| Day | Focus | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | ❤️ Gratitude | Thankfulness Tree |
| Tuesday | 🎨 Creativity | Fall Suncatchers |
| Wednesday | ✋ Fine Motor | Beaded Corn |
| Thursday | 🌲 Nature | Pinecone Turkeys |
| Friday | 🦃 Sensory/Fun | Thanksgiving Sensory Bin |
That gives you a nice balance of creative expression, sensory play, fine-motor development, nature exploration and social-emotional learning, rather than having every activity be another version of a turkey craft.
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