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Looking for easy Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers and preschoolers? These simple Thanksgiving craft ideas are perfect for little hands and include cute turkey crafts, thankful activities, fall art projects, and decorations your kids can make at home.
Thanksgiving is such a fun time to slow down and get creative together. Many of these crafts use simple supplies you may already have at home, like construction paper, paper plates, toilet paper rolls, paint, crayons, and glue.
Whether you need a fun Thanksgiving activity for a toddler, a preschool classroom craft, or something to keep the kids busy while you prepare Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll find plenty of simple ideas below.
Here are 14 fun and easy Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers and preschoolers to try this year!
Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers
These Thanksgiving art and craft ideas are a great way for kids of all ages to enjoy a fun craft, work on fine motor skills, and maybe even help decorate the Thanksgiving table!
You may even have most of the materials and supplies on hand already – just look for construction paper, tissue paper, a glue stick, toilet paper rolls, markers, crayons, scissors – whatever you can find and make each project your own!
These easy crafts are a fun way for the entire family to have so much fun together and make the Thanksgiving celebration last a little longer!
Check out this list of Thanksgiving crafts to find the perfect way to enjoy Thanksgiving Day as a family!
Simple Supplies for Thanksgiving Crafts
You don’t need expensive craft supplies to keep little ones entertained. Many of these easy Thanksgiving crafts can be made using items you already have around the house.
Keep a few of these supplies handy:
- Construction paper or cardstock
- Washable paint
- Crayons and markers
- Glue sticks
- Child-safe scissors
- Paper plates
- Toilet paper rolls
- Coffee filters
- Googly eyes
- Pom poms
- Tissue paper
- Pinecones and fall leaves
For toddlers, you can make the projects even easier by cutting out shapes ahead of time and letting them focus on painting, gluing, coloring, and decorating.
1.”Thanks” Garland
Photo source: Better Homes & Gardens
Create multiple colorful garlands to hang around your home to say thanks and give gratitude. Glue or thread your garland pieces to some ribbon to complete this easy craft.
Cut out leaf and turkey shapes to add to pre-cut letters or enjoy coloring in letter templates to extend this activity.
This craft would make a great addition to your mantle!
2. Thanksgiving Pie Boxes
Photo source: Better Homes & Gardens
Download the template to make these cute pie slice boxes from the website above. Dress up your pie box to look like pilgrim turkeys to keep your leftovers safe on the journey home.
Please note that this activity will need an adult to assemble the pie box as hot glue is involved.
This craft would be so fun to set at the dinner table!
3. Thankful Jars
Photo source: Premeditatedleftovers
Ask your children to think of things that make them feel blessed. Write them down on lollipop sticks to use as reminders of things to be thankful for when they are feeling down throughout the year.
This is a great craft as you can add extra lollipop sticks throughout the year if you want.
This is the perfect Thanksgiving craft for older kids!
You could also use this idea to make a thankful tree!
4. Thanksgiving cards
Photo source: DecoArt
Get messy creating your own finger painted turkey ‘thank you’ cards to give to your friends and family.
Your little ones will love the opportunity to recreate the turkeys tail feathers using a range of Autumn and Thanksgiving colors.
5. Handprint Turkeys
Photo source: simpleeverydaymom
Toddlers aways love tracing around their hands. Create turkeys of every color on cardstock and decorate with feathers, sequins and glitter to create some extra fancy turkeys to display in your home.
Unless your child is confident using scissors we suggest an adult helps to cut out the handprints.
You could also make a handprint turkey using paint. Simply paint your toddlers hands and fingers, then place their hand on your paper and press down. Add googly eyes and a beak to finish.
Toddlers will have a great time with this craft!
6. ‘Pumpkin’ Apple Stamping
Photo source: inthekidskitchen
Using different fruit and vegetables to create prints is always fun. Apples make the perfect pumpkin shape when cut in half.
Use orange paint to create your own mini pumpkin picture. Use a small brush with green paint to create the stem.
This craft would be great to make a small table cloth to decorate smaller tables during Thanksgiving.
7. Coffee Filter Turkey
Photo source: funmoneymom
Need the children to keep occupied while you finish off a chore? These coffee filter turkeys are a quick, easy craft that will keep your children entertained for hours.
Grab the magic markers, thick ones work best and get creating colorful designs on your coffee filter.
When your design is complete spray a small amount of water on the coffee filter to blend the colors together.
This is one of my favorite turkey art projects!
8. Paper Bag Turkey
Photo source: journeytosahm
Recycle your old paper bags and create these cute turkeys to decorate your home. These are a really simple make for younger children, needed only card scissors and glue but can be decorated further using glitter, pom poms and markers.
You could also change this up and use this idea to make a paper plate turkey craft.
9. Pinecone Turkey
Photo source: diycandy
Looking for a fun pine cone turkey craft?
Pinecones make great turkeys. There nobbily appearance look similar to turkey feathers and of course they are the same color as a turkey.
The best part of this craft is getting the family outside to collect lots of pinecones to turn into turkeys when you get home. Just add eyes, a beak and a decorative feather to complete.
10. Toilet Paper Roll Turkey
Photo source: drugstoredivas
Empty toilet roll tubes are so versatile and great for many craft projects. Why not turn some into Thanksgiving turkeys to keep your children busy. All you need is some brown paint and Autumnal colored card.
Get your little ones practicing their scissor skills, if they are old enough, or pre-cut the tail feathers for them to stick on.
11. Thanksgiving Painted Rocks
Photo source: livinglifeasmoms
This is another great craft to get your children our exploring nature. Go on a family walk to find the perfect rocks, round, flat ones are the best for painting.
Then at home let your creativity flow and paint a range of Thanksgiving designs and thankful words on your rocks.
12. Thanksgiving coloring pages
Photo source: morethanamomofthree
This craft activity is one to get out when you’ve exhausted all your other options and your children are still ready to craft or right before Thanksgiving dinner when they are getting fidgety.
Download some free coloring pages from the Internet and let them loose with their favorite coloring pens or pencils. I bet this activity will keep the adults busy for a while too.
13. Toddler’s Wreath
Photo source: kidsactivitiesblog
Another great craft to get the family outdoors, collecting leaves, twigs and anything else of interest.
Your toddler will carefully place all the objects to your homemade Thanksgiving wreath before gluing into place..
14. Turkey Paper Headbands
Photo source: sewwoodsy
Children love to dress up and what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than dressing up as a turkey. Children big and small can have fun putthing these turkey headbands together before pretending to be turkeys for the whole family.
We hope we’ve given you some ideas on fun, family crafts you can make in preparation for Thanksgiving.
Whether you want to decorate the house ready for the celebrations or need a simple craft to keep the children quiet during Thanksgiving dinner the crafts in this list can be created by children of any age.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers FAQ
What are some easy Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers?
Some of the easiest Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers include handprint turkeys, paper plate turkeys, coffee filter turkeys, apple stamping, coloring pages, and simple paper bag crafts. Look for activities that involve painting, gluing, stamping, or decorating rather than lots of cutting.
What Thanksgiving crafts can a 2-year-old make?
Two-year-olds can enjoy simple Thanksgiving art activities like finger painting, handprint turkeys, apple stamping, coloring, decorating paper plates, and gluing pre-cut paper shapes. Adult supervision and help will usually be needed.
What Thanksgiving crafts are good for preschoolers?
Preschoolers can try paper bag turkeys, toilet paper roll turkeys, pinecone turkeys, thankful jars, painted rocks, Thanksgiving cards, and turkey headbands. These activities are also a fun way to practice fine motor skills like cutting, gluing, coloring, and painting.
How can I make Thanksgiving crafts easier for toddlers?
Prepare as much as possible before you begin. Cut out complicated shapes, cover your work area, use washable supplies, and choose crafts with just a few simple steps. For toddlers, the goal doesn’t have to be a perfect finished project — simply painting, sticking, stamping, and creating is part of the fun.
Looking for some great Thanksgiving books for kids?
Check out our 30 favorite fall and Thanksgiving books here!
Want to grab some free Thanksgiving coloring pages?
Click here to get a free Happy Thanksgiving printable coloring pages pack!
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