I keep a growing list of “Things No One Told Me About Motherhood.” Holding steady at number 22? Holiday crafts your kids make as toddlers will become part of the family tradition forever. Why else would I be pulling out—nearly 18 years later—the four laminated turkey handprint placements? It’s tradition, and it’s super sweet to remember how our girls added “Lightning McQueen” to one of those “thankful for” feathers! Now we can’t, um, “ka-chow” down on our Thanksgiving feast without them.
As little ones, kids often express the sweetest words of gratitude. Capture this tender moment in time with these 15 Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers and preschoolers, and know you’ll treasure them in your heart forever.
I’d Like to Thank the Academy
1. The Giving (Gratitude) Tree – Tape a large sheet of butcher paper to a wall. Draw the outline of a tree. Cut out leaf shapes from construction paper and ask your child to name one thing she is
thankful for that day. Or use our Thankful Tree printable. Throughout November, keep adding leaves to the tree. For a variation, create individual trees on construction paper and create them in a day.
2. The ABCs of Gratitude – Grab alphabet letter beads and pipe cleaners to make bracelets (and practice letters) together. Ask your child to name something or someone she is thankful for that day. Then, help her figure out what letter it starts with and find the correct letter bead. Add that bead to the pipe cleaner. Continue adding letters to the pipe cleaner to express gratitude.
Handy Crafts to Fall Back On
3. Talking Turkey Hand Puppets – Pull out those lunch-size brown paper pages, crayons, construction paper, and googly eyes. Then transform a bag or two into the unofficial symbol of Thanksgiving and let your little one gobble-gobble to her heart’s content.
4. Handprint Turkeys – Use washable brown paint to make your child’s handprint on white construction paper. This is the turkey’s body. After letting it dry, invite your child to add feathers to his turkey using markers or crayons. Help him glue on some googly eyes and a small beak.
It’s the Great Pumpkin(s)
5. I Fall to (Pumpkin) Pieces – Finally! Your toddler can tear up something with your blessing. Give your child several pieces of orange construction paper. Tell her to rip it up into smaller pieces. Meanwhile, draw a circle on a piece of paper and get out the glue stick. Let your child glue the pieces inside the circle to make a pumpkin collage.
6. “Here Comes the Sun” Catchers – Use contact paper and orange tissue paper to create pumpkin shapes to stick on windows. Add black triangle to transform your child’s pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern.
All the Feels
Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers can include more than creating keepsake art pieces. They can also look more like hands-on sensory activities like these:
7. Pumpkin Spice Playdough – Make a simple playdough recipe and mix in classic fall spices, such as pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Your child will love creating with the dough while engaging her sense of smell and touch.
8. It’s Corny, but Toddlers Love It – Fill a shallow plastic container with dried popcorn kernels. Add scoops, plastic cups, and small Thanksgiving-themed toys, such as turkeys or pumpkins. This is one of those Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers that engages the senses of touch, sight, smell, and sound as they scoop and pour.
9. Applely-Ever After – If you bake an apple pie in November, throw some extra apples in the oven for your child. In a small plastic container, add the cooled cooked apples, some cinnamon, and a bit of water for squishy and smelly play. Give your child spoons and cups to stir and scoop.
10. Scrub a Dub-Dub, Pumpkins in the Tub – Give your child a vegetable brush. Then at the sink, invite her to wash Fall veggies, such as pie pumpkins, apples, corn, or gourds. She’ll get some hands-on experience with different textures and be a helping hand for you!
Let’s Talk Turkey
11. Your Little Turkey Tracks – With washable brown paint, use the child’s footprint to create a turkey body. After it dries, help your child draw feathers and add a face. Or pre-cut construction paper feathers and let her use a glue stick to glue them on. For another variation, ask your child, “What are you thankful for?” Then, write what she says on each “feather” before adding it to her turkey.
12. The Classic Craft Stick Turkey – If your mom opened a museum of Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers, she’d probably add the craft stick turkey you made decades ago. Keep the tradition alive by letting your child make one, too. Glue three to five craft sticks together to form the turkey’s body. Glue on construction paper feathers, googly eyes, a beak, and, hey, even a wattle.
13. Nature’s Art Supply Turkeys – Live where pine trees grow? Then make a rafter of turkeys. (That’s just the technical name for a bunch of turkeys!) Gather pinecones and decorate with feathers, paint, googly eyes, and a beak. Make one for each person in your family and use them as a Thanksgiving table centerpiece.
Two More Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers to Leaf You With
14. Leaf Rubbings – Go on a walk with your little one and collect colorful leaves along the way. Use
this Leaf Identification Game to see how many different kinds you can find. Then, create leaf rubbings with crayons on paper by placing a white sheet of paper over a leaf. Then, rub a crayon on top to reveal the leaf.
15. Leaf Me Hanging – With your child, gather leaves and a large stick to create a leaf mobile. Cut long pieces of yarn, ribbon, or string. Tie one end of each piece to the stick and the other to the leaf stem. Fill up the stick and find someplace to display your child’s masterpiece.
What Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers (or kids) do your parents still put out for the holidays?
