10 Thanksgiving Activities for Kids

Thanksgiving is a joyful time filled with laughter and love. But, let’s be honest, if you’re the one hosting Thanksgiving dinner, things can get a bit crazy, especially with kids in the house. After all, they have so much energy to spend, and the festive atmosphere just makes them that much more excited.  

On the other hand, teachers and homeschooling parents have their hands full with regular activities, so planning and executing a good lesson plan for the holiday season on top of everything else can be tricky. 

Fortunately, we considered both of these potential situations and created a list of Thanksgiving activities for kids that can be easily implemented in a classroom setting or the comfort of your home. 

All of the activities are educational, fun, and most importantly, related to the holiday at hand so that kids can feel included and learn more about Thanksgiving. 

Before we jump in, we recommend checking out our article on How to Teach Kids the History of Thanksgiving Respectfully, which will help you contextualize these activities and give you specific advice on how to approach the topic of Thanksgiving when dealing with little kids. 

Thanksgiving Activities for Kids 

Thanksgiving Piñata

A Thanksgiving piñata is more a craft than an activity that you can do with your child, or you can do it alone and then surprise your child and make them crush it! 

To make it you’ll need white lunch bags (small and big), confetti and treats, brown or orange tissue paper, scissors, and hot glue (or white glue). 

Open the big lunch bag and fill it with confetti and treats, then close the opening by folding it and gluing it gently. After this, open the small lunch bags. Roll the edges toward the inside with one hand inside, so you can get a more rounded shape of the bag. After, fill them with confetti and treats and twist the opening to close it. 

Take the tissue paper and make two 5-7cm (2-3 inches) wide strips. Fringe on one side of the strips. Take one strip and glue it around the twisted part of the paper bag. Repeat the same procedure with the other bag. 

Once you’re done, glue the smaller paper bags (representing the legs) to the bigger one, and there you go! You have a turkey piñata filled with confetti and tasty treats. Your kids will absolutely love it! 

For more ideas about unique Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids check out our linked article. 

I’m Thankful For… List

Thanksgiving is a day where we should be reminded about the things that we most appreciate in life. Encouraging kids to think about the things and people in their life in this aspect will contribute to their emotional development and empathy. 

For these reasons, making an “I’m Thankful For…” list is one of the greatest Thanksgiving activities for kids of all ages, especially pre-teens and teens. Older children usually face a lot of peer pressure and even bullying, which is why this kind of activity can be quite healing and beneficial for their mental health, too. 

In order for kids to take this activity more seriously, make sure to set some rules or change the scenery. For example, take kids for a walk in the park, sit in a beautiful but quiet spot, and make them think and then write about all the things they’re grateful for. You can even let them alone for a while (watch them from a distance), taking away their phone or other distractors. 

You can also set rules about the assignment itself by asking them to write at least three or more things in the list in each category – me (example: I’m thankful for being healthy), other people (I’m thankful for having my grandparents around me), and stuff (I’m thankful for having a big backyard where I can play).

Gratitude Jar

The gratitude jar is taking things one step further than the “I’m Thankful For…” list and is probably the best idea that we’ve come up with so far. It can’t get easier to implement, as you’ll only need a big jar or a bowl and a sticker that says “Gratitude Jar” on it. That’s it! However, the result of taking part in such an activity can be extremely rewarding and heartwarming! 

The idea is that you leave the jar in a prominent place in the house or the classroom for a whole month! Actually, this can be an initiative that can last through the whole year – from one Thanksgiving to another! 

The instructions are simple. Every time we feel good, happy, or something exciting happens to us, we write it down on a small piece of paper as something we’re thankful for and put it in the jar. 

Next Thanksgiving during dinner you can reveal and read out loud all the things that you were thankful for throughout the year. Most of the little things that made us happy are usually forgotten and Thanksgiving is the perfect day to remember what the past year has given us. 

DIY Thanksgiving Bracelets and Necklaces

So far, we’ve focused on a lot of activities that give children the opportunity to learn more about Thanksgiving or express themselves creatively through art, but the truth is, hands-on activities like making bracelets or necklaces can be very beneficial and refreshing. You can make DIY bracelets for the whole family, friends, or tell the kids they should give it to someone they’re very thankful to. 

To make DIY bracelets and necklaces you’ll need a hemp cord, Thanksgiving charms, and scissors – that’s all! There are many styles and if you want to do something fancier, we’re sure you can find a tutorial on Youtube, but one simple and good-looking style is the typical braid. Braiding is easy enough, so kids can follow, and they can add their favorite charms while they braid. 

Fun Thanksgiving Worksheets

Thanksgiving activities for kids typically include trivia quizzes, crossword puzzles, word games, and so many more entertaining yet educational activities. Of course, just googling Thanksgiving activities for kids will result in a myriad of specific games, quizzes, and puzzles, but organizing everything and putting them all down into a comprehensive lesson plan can be time-consuming. This is why we rely on interactive worksheet bundles.

All the hard work is done by professional and experienced teachers, which leaves you to download and use them directly. They’re also very easy to edit and personalize to fit in the existing curriculum or Thanksgiving unit. 

Here’s our selection of the best worksheet bundles for Thanksgiving: 

• Thanksgiving Day Facts & Worksheets.
• Thanksgiving Around the World Facts & Worksheets.
• Thanksgiving Manners Facts & Worksheets
• Thanksgiving Day Proclamation Facts & Worksheets

We also offer a Thanksgiving Curriculum which you can use if you’re planning a Thanksgiving unit in your homeschool practice, or even as a guide for more interactive classroom lesson plans for this season.

Many worksheet bundles would also work great as an addition to a complimentary activity that’s more specific. For example, The Mayflower worksheets can come in handy if you’re teaching the history of Thanksgiving or the Erntedankfest worksheets for when you’re teaching about Thanksgiving traditions around the world.

Thanksgiving Movies and Documentaries

Worksheets are an incredible tool for learning and they’re quite interesting, too, but what about those kids who are more visual learners? After you’ve wrapped up the official lesson, playing Thanksgiving movies or documentaries for the kids is one of the better ways to consolidate all that new knowledge. 

But even if we take learning aside, watching movies with the whole family for the holiday season is one of the most wholesome and emotionally rewarding experiences. For this reason, we actually dedicated a whole article on Thanksgiving Movies for Kids. So, if you need ideas about what to watch this Thanksgiving, check out our article. 

For now, here are a couple of educational movies and documentaries for kids and teenagers that explore the history and tradition of Thanksgiving. 

• Amazing Documentary – The Real Story of Thanksgiving.
• Documentary The Myths Around the First Thanksgiving.
• William Bradford – The First Thanksgiving Interactive DVD
• The Mayflower Pilgrims by Alan Mumby.

Thanksgiving Books for Kids

Kids don’t always like to read big and intimidating school textbooks, but they’ll surely enjoy a captivating Thanksgiving story. There are so many wonderful Thanksgiving books out there, that it would be really a shame to miss out on them. You can even make this activity more fun by organizing an improvised book club where you’ll analyze the stories with your child, pose interesting questions, and find the underlying message the writer is trying to share. 

Here are some great Thanksgiving books that kids of all ages would love: 

• Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet
• The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing.
• I Am Thankful: A Thanksgiving Book for Kids by Sheri Wall.
• Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano.
• The Story of the Pilgrims (Pictureback(R)) by Katharine Ross.
• Peyton Picks the Perfect Pie: A Thanksgiving Celebration by America’s Test Kitchen Kids.
• The Kids Laugh Challenge: Would You Rather? Thanksgiving Edition: A Hilarious and Interactive Question Game Book for Boys and Girls by Riddleland.
• Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks! (Reading Railroad Books) by Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut.
• How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace.
• The Very First Americans (All Aboard Books) by Cara Ashrose.

Thanksgiving Games

A little bit of family fun can set just the right mood for the holiday spirit. And, what’s a better way to have fun with family or friends than to play games. Although children love playing games, it’s the grown-ups that end up having the most fun. 

Thanksgiving games can range from a Thanksgiving edition of the classic Pictionary to an outdoorsy family race with balloons or quizzes of Thanksgiving trivia. There’s so much to choose from, but if you’re looking for a specific suggestion, here’s how to play tic-tac-toe Thanksgiving style.  

Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe

The original idea behind the pumpkin tic-tac-toe is to use actual pumpkins. However, we understand that finding nine relatively small pumpkins might not be practical nor possible for some people, which is why we suggest using rocks or DIY pumpkins made of paper. Basically, anything you have will work. 

You’ll also need white and black paint and colored paper tape. Simply, paint the pumpkins, rocks, or DIY pumpkins with white circles or black crosses on the top. For standard tic-tac-toe, you’ll need nine pumpkins. 

After this, make a tic-tac-toe table on the floor using the colored paper tape, and play.

Thanksgiving Art Challenge

There are two ways you can organize this fun Thanksgiving activity for kids of all ages – as a one-day activity or as a weekly or monthly challenge. Regardless of how you choose to organize it, the main point is for kids to express themselves creatively and have fun. Even though is called a challenge, kids should understand that there are no good or bad artworks. The challenging part is in either using as many different materials (the one-day activity) or disciple in drawing every day (weekly or monthly challenge). 

The first way to organize the Thanksgiving art challenge is to buy a lot of different materials like oil paints, water paints, markers, collage paper, construction paper, glue, glitter, ribbons, fallen leaves, and anything else you can think of. Get a relatively big canvas and tell children that they should draw Thanksgiving as they imagine it. Encourage them to think outside the box and use everything at their disposal. The real meaning of Thanksgiving can also be represented through abstract art and doesn’t have to be related to turkeys, pumpkins, or the orange, red, and brown colors. 

The second way you can organize the art challenge is to set up a time frame and make a list of Thanksgiving-related topics for drawing. If it’s a weekly challenge then the child should draw every day for seven days straight, ending up with a collection of seven different drawings. 

Here’s an example of a weekly drawing list for the Thanksgiving art challenge for kids: 

1. Pilgrims;
2. Turkey;
3. Harvest;
4. Favorite Thanksgiving food;
5. Thanksgiving family dinner;
6. Someone they’re thankful for;
7. Something they’re thankful for;

At the end of the challenge, the kids can create an album titled “Thanksgiving is…” 

A Thanksgiving Story

Finally, the last activity for Thanksgiving is actually one that starts before Thanksgiving dinner but ends only after the holiday has passed. We’re talking about your child writing a Thanksgiving story. 

It’s really simple, straightforward, and any child that can write can take part. For the youngest ones that still haven’t mastered writing, it’s best to let them express themselves through art (similar to the above-mentioned activity), so they don’t feel left behind. 

That being said, here’s the deal. Tell your children or students that for this Thanksgiving they’ll become the family’s “memory catcher” and their job is to observe everything, take notes, and then write a story about “The Best Moments of Thanksgiving.”

Give kids instructions and explain the importance of such a story. Tell kids they should observe everyone and everything before and during Thanksgiving, and every time they see or do something they like or that made them happy, they should write it down.

A good example of this would be “Today we went to the park with my dad and sister. We played a lot and gathered beautiful fallen leaves.” After the holiday, the kids should organize their notes and tell what made them happy through a story. 

This activity helps kids to concentrate, pay attention, enjoy the present moment, and organize their thoughts. 

Before You Leave 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means there’s not much time left for you to organize everything and incorporate fun and meaningful Thanksgiving activities for kids, in the comfort of your home or in the classroom. To help you out, we listed a bunch of different ideas that are both educational and entertaining. On top of that, you can follow the links to our articles to get inspiration for even more Thanksgiving crafts, movies, and lesson plans that are suitable for kids of all ages! 

If you need even more resources, you’ll find them on our main website.  We have one of the largest collections of high-quality, interactive worksheets, curriculum, and other teaching resources. Thanksgiving will be over soon, but Christmas is coming, and we have some nice surprises coming for all teachers and homeschooling parents! Plus, let’s not forget the year-round regular activities that you can make more meaningful and engaging with our worksheet bundles. 

Finally, our blog is the hot-spot for educational insights and practices, and professional advice for every aspect of your kids’ education.