With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, we have Thanksgiving activities and crafts to get your kids excited and also entertain them with some fun. My favorite craft doubles as holiday decor as well. It is always nice to not just have a million paper crafts but something you can utilize for years to come and have a keepsake from your little ones as well.
Handprint Turkey
I love any craft that involves my little one’s handprints, something that I can do over and over throughout the years with them. It lets me look back at all the fun we have had together and how much they have grown. While doing this, I also talked to my oldest about what Thanksgiving is all about and what we are grateful for this year.
- Cardstock paper (yellow or white for the handprint, brown for the body of the turkey)
- Washable paints
- Cut up shapes for face and feet out of various card stock colors
- Googly eyes
- Large paint brush
- Glue
I used a large paintbrush to paint orange and red on my son’s hand, then made a few different imprints on yellow cardstock paper. I let them dry and we cut them out. We then cut out a body for the turkey, the parts for his face and his feet. We placed the hands in a fan shape to make them look like his feathers (see picture below). I stapled them together at the bottom since the cardstock is thicker than normal paper. Then we glued on the turkey’s body parts as listed above.
Homemade Thanksgiving Playdough
We go through a TON of playdough in our house, so making the homemade version is always a hit with my kids. This year we decided to make some Thanksgiving-inspired playdough to get extra festive!
Recipe
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon spice
- Optional: Fall-colored gel food coloring (we did red, orange, and yellow and left one neutral – I also added gold glitter to the yellow since I had it!)
This activity is mostly made by an adult as it is made on a stove, but it is worth it! Once you get all your ingredients, combine all of them above except the food coloring into a pan over medium heat. It will be very watery as you start and within about 5-8 minutes you notice it starts to thicken. It will become a smooth ball that no longer has the sticky consistency once it is ready.
I removed the pan from the heat and made sure it wasn’t too warm before removing it. I carefully removed the dough from the pot and placed it on a plastic cutting board to cool down before letting the kids get their hands on it.
If you want to add color you can then divide the dough up (we did it into four sections). We gradually added color to each flattened-out section, folding the dough and kneading the color into the dough.
Once you are done you have festive scented playdough that the whole family can enjoy!
Mason Jar Candle Holders
- Various sizes of mason jars/glass jars
- Mod Podge
- LED tea light
- Artificial leaves/cut-up tissue paper
- Sponge brushes/Large paintbrush
Take your mason jars and cover them in Mod Podge. We then cut up various fall-colored tissue paper into leaf shapes to cover the jars in. I love how these look with the artificial leaves you can find at your local craft store, but I didn’t have any on hand for my picture below. Once you are done layering them on top of the first layer on Mod Podge, top it with another coat of Mod Podge to seal it all in. You can display them in various-sized jars with LED tea lights for your Thanksgiving dinner!
Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
With little ones running around on Thanksgiving, I like having some Thanksgiving activities to keep them occupied in the morning. This gives them something to keep them busy during all the hustle of preparing our holiday meal. I created my own Scavenger Hunt that my kids are really excited about. I also printed out each object in a larger size and plan to hide those around the house to have them hunt around for the various Thanksgiving-themed items. Also, have a special Thanksgiving treat for them as a surprise when they are done.
I hope you enjoy these Thanksgiving activities and crafts this holiday season. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from all of us at Central Mass Mom!
