23 Thanksgiving Activities For Kids: Games & Crafts Included

Thanksgiving Charades brings out everyone's silly side while celebrating holiday traditions. Players act out turkey sounds, pilgrim activities, harvest themes, and Thanksgiving foods without speaking. 

This activity works perfectly for mixed age groups because even toddlers can participate by making animal sounds. Complete your family celebration by sharing heartwarming Thanksgiving quotes that capture the spirit of togetherness.

Thanksgiving Family Cook transforms meal preparation into quality bonding time for the whole family. Kids can help with decorating cookies, kneading bread dough, rolling pie crusts, and arranging foods on the table. 

Working together in the kitchen teaches children valuable life skills while creating shared memories. The pride on a child's face when they contribute to the family feast makes all the extra mess worthwhile.

Family Talent Show gives every family member a chance to shine and showcase their unique abilities. Kids might sing their favorite songs, demonstrate magic tricks, share jokes, or show off dance moves they learned at school. Adults can join in with their own hidden talents or childhood party tricks.

This activity builds confidence in children while strengthening family bonds through shared entertainment. Set up a simple "stage" area in your living room and encourage everyone to cheer for each performer.

Craft Thanksgiving Thankful Tree combines creativity with gratitude practice in a beautiful display piece. Gather branches from your yard or use construction paper to create a tree trunk and branches. Cut out paper leaves in fall colors and have each family member write something they're thankful for on each leaf.

This project grows throughout the day as family members add more leaves with their thoughts of gratitude. Children love seeing their contributions become part of a larger family creation.

Craft Thanksgiving Cards lets children express their creativity while spreading joy to others. Provide construction paper, markers, stickers, and other craft supplies for kids to design personalized cards for grandparents, neighbors, teachers, or friends.

The process of creating something special for others teaches children the joy of giving and thoughtfulness. These handmade cards often become treasured keepsakes that recipients save for years.

A well-organized costume contest brings out everyone's competitive spirit and creativity. Set clear categories like "Most Original," "Best Group Costume," and "Funniest" to ensure fair judging. Create a runway area where contestants can show off their outfits and explain their inspiration.

Recruit impartial judges or let everyone vote for categories they're not competing in. Prizes don't need to be expensive, just thoughtful and fun. Consider gift cards, Halloween decorations, or silly trophies that winners will actually want to display.

Go to a Petting Zoo offers children hands-on interaction with farm animals that connect them to agricultural traditions. Many petting zoos feature special fall activities, hay rides, and educational programs about farming and food production.

This activity provides a perfect break from indoor festivities while teaching children about gratitude for farmers and the food production process. Check local farms for special Thanksgiving weekend events and activities.

Thanksgiving Sensory Bin creates a safe exploration space filled with textured materials and themed objects. Fill a large plastic container with dried corn kernels, mini pumpkins, plastic turkeys, orange and brown rice, or fall leaves.

This activity keeps little ones engaged for extended periods while developing their fine motor skills and sensory processing abilities. Supervise closely to ensure safety and consider your toddler's age when selecting materials.

Shake Your Tailfeathers transforms your living room into a dance party with Thanksgiving-themed music and movement. Play songs about turkeys, harvest time, or gratitude while encouraging toddlers to flap their arms like turkey wings, waddle around the room, or shake colorful scarves like autumn leaves falling.

Movement activities help toddlers burn energy while developing gross motor skills and rhythm awareness. Create simple props using construction paper feathers or ribbons to make the experience even more engaging.

Fall Count and Color Book combines education with creativity through themed coloring pages and counting activities. Print or create simple coloring sheets featuring pumpkins, turkeys, and autumn leaves with numbers for toddlers to trace and count.

This quiet activity provides a perfect break from more active play while building early math and fine motor skills. The sense of accomplishment when they complete a page builds confidence and keeps them engaged in learning.

Thanksgiving Ring Toss Game develops hand-eye coordination through festive play that toddlers can master. Create simple rings from paper plates with the centers cut out, or use actual rings if you have them. Set up turkey decorations or orange cones as targets and show toddlers how to toss the rings.

The repetitive nature of this game appeals to toddlers while building important motor skills through play. Start with targets close to your child and gradually increase the distance as they improve.

Leaves Frame Activity combines outdoor exploration with indoor creativity as toddlers collect fall leaves to make DIY picture frames. Take a nature walk to gather colorful leaves of different shapes and sizes. Back inside, help your kid glue the leaves around a simple frame to create a beautiful autumn display.

This project connects children with nature while creating something beautiful for your home. The process of collecting leaves outdoors provides fresh air and exercise, while the crafting portion develops creativity and following directions

Play with Magnetic Tiles encourages creativity and problem-solving through open-ended building activities with autumn themes. Add small toy turkeys, farm animals, or fall decorations to create themed play scenarios.

The magnetic connection provides satisfying feedback when pieces stick together successfully. This activity works well as a quiet option when you need toddlers occupied during meal preparation or family conversations.

Play Feed the Turkey creates an engaging game that promotes hand-eye coordination through simple, repetitive play. Cut a large hole in a cardboard box and decorate it to look like a turkey's head and body. Give toddlers soft balls, bean bags, or crumpled paper to "feed" the turkey by tossing items into the opening.

This game appeals to toddlers' love of cause and effect while building important motor skills through repetitive practice. The immediate feedback of successfully "feeding" the turkey provides satisfaction and encourages continued play.

Craft Autumn Leaf Turkey transforms collected fall leaves into adorable turkey decorations using natural materials. Help children arrange colorful leaves in a fan shape for tail feathers, then add a brown oval for the body and orange triangle for the beak. Glue everything onto construction paper and add googly eyes for personality.

Children take pride in creating something beautiful from materials they found outdoors. The finished turkeys make perfect decorations for your home or thoughtful gifts for grandparents and family friends.

Craft Turkey Headbands create wearable art that kindergarteners love showing off during family gatherings. Start with brown construction paper strips sized to fit around each child's head. Add colorful feathers made from paper or real craft feathers, then attach a simple turkey face to the front of the headband.

Wearing their creations makes children feel special and gives them a fun way to participate in holiday festivities. Let children customize their designs with different colors and decorations to express their individual creativity.

Craft Thanksgiving Wreath gives kindergarteners the chance to create beautiful home decorations using paper plates and autumn materials. Cut the center out of a paper plate to form the wreath base, then help children glue on construction paper leaves, small pinecones, acorns, or artificial berries in fall colors.

This project develops planning skills as children decide where to place each decoration for the best visual effect. The finished wreaths can hang on doors, walls, or windows to add festive touches throughout your home.

Painted Pine Cone transforms natural materials into colorful decorations through simple painting techniques. Collect pinecones during outdoor walks, then provide tempera paints in fall colors like orange, red, yellow, and brown.

The natural texture of pinecones creates interesting patterns when painted, giving children opportunities to experiment with color mixing and brush techniques. Once dry, these painted pinecones work as table decorations, centerpiece elements, or gifts for family members.

Craft Thanksgiving Pilgrim Hat introduces children to historical elements of the holiday through hands-on creation. Use black construction paper to form the hat shape, adding a white paper band and simple buckle cut from yellow paper.

This project opens conversations about Thanksgiving history while developing measuring and cutting skills. Children enjoy learning about the people who celebrated the first Thanksgiving while creating something they can wear.

Learn Thanksgiving Songs fills your home with joyful music while teaching children traditional and fun holiday songs. Start with simple songs like "Over the River and Through the Woods" or create hand motions for turkey songs. Practice together throughout the day and perform for family members during dinner.

Music activities support language development and memory skills while adding celebration to your holiday atmosphere. The shared experience of singing together creates warm memories that families treasure for years.

Scavenger Hunt turns your home and yard into an exciting Thanksgiving-themed adventure for kindergarteners. Create a simple list with pictures or words of items to find, such as something orange, something that grows on trees, or something you're thankful for.

This activity encourages observation skills and gets children moving around while learning about Thanksgiving symbols and concepts. The excitement of discovery and completion provides natural motivation for participation.

Thanksgiving Word Matching builds literacy skills through holiday-themed vocabulary practice. Create cards with Thanksgiving words and matching pictures, then have children match words to images or find pairs of identical cards. Start with simple words like "turkey," "pie," and "family" that connect to children's experiences.

This educational game supports reading readiness while reinforcing holiday vocabulary and concepts. The game format makes learning feel like play while building important pre-reading foundation skills