50 Fun and Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

We love holidays in our homeschool because we usually take a break to enjoy family. One of our favorite things to do during a holiday break is to craft together. Crafts are a great way to decorate your home for that season or holiday. You are going to love these easy Thanksgiving crafts.

Easy Thanksgiving Crafts

Crafting is a fun way to spend time together as a family and to relax and enjoy being creative. Kids of all ages enjoy making crafts. Yes, even the older ones! For our family, crafting is just as much a part of holidays as baking and family recipes are!

I also like to give my children crafts to work on when I am busy. We usually take a few days off of school during Thanksgiving so I can get the house ready.

We host Thanksgiving dinner at our house so there is a lot of work to be done. There is always so much cooking and cleaning that I need to do. This is the perfect time to break out some fun and festive Thanksgiving crafts to keep my kids busy. 

Recommended Resource: American Holidays Unit Study! Do you have a difficult time explaining the history behind America’s Federal Holidays to your students? In this unit study you will learn all about the history and traditions of America’s Federal Holidays. Includes text, questions, written narration, research, quiz, notebooking, and an answer key. Suited to grades 4 & up, but is flexible for family use.

Easy Thanksgiving Crafts

When I am busy prepping for Thanksgiving it is not the time to break out all the paints, glitter or a glue gun. The purpose of giving them fun Thanksgiving crafts is so that I can get baking and cooking and cleaning done. I want to make sure there won’t be extra work involved for me.

I like to choose easy crafts that my kids are capable of doing without a lot of extra help. If you have an older child to help then you can get a little more detailed. Some of these will look adorable as centerpieces for the Thanksgiving table, or as little take home gifts for guests.

Turkey Crafts

If you ever had a child in preschool then you are familiar with the simple turkey craft that uses your child’s hand to make a turkey. These simple Thanksgiving crafts are perfect for little hands and are a fun way to involve your little ones.

Clothespin Hand Turkey – This turkey craft uses a clothespin that you can clip onto a table centerpiece.

Turkey Handprint Craft for Kids – Trace your child’s hands to create an adorable turkey craft.

Printable Thankful Turkey Hat – This is such an easy Thanksgiving turkey craft. All you need to do is print the turkey, color it and staple it for a hat.

Turkey Windsock Craft – These turkey windsocks look so cute hanging up on a front porch and these adorable turkeys make them even cuter.

DIY Thanksgiving Flower Pot Turkey – These cute little turkeys double as Thanksgiving Decor.

Recommended: Open & Go Christmas Unit Studies Preparing Your Heart for Christmas is a short 10-day Advent devotional and is suitable for children in grades K-4. Younger children will enjoy the daily devotions and discussion questions, Advent Coloring Pages, and Advent Scene Builder. If you have an older child – no worries! Christmas Around The World Unit Study is great for grades 4 & up. Even young children will enjoy the interesting stories of cultures and traditions from around the world!

Pilgrims Crafts

These pilgrim crafts are perfect for doing a unit study on Pilgrims and learning about their lives and how they dressed.

Styrofoam Cup Pilgrim Hat Craft -Styrofoam cups are inexpensive and easy to use, they also make cute hats.

Paper Pilgrim Craft – This craft is perfect for preschoolers and use a simple printable template.

Popsicle Stick Pilgrim Craft – Make a cute pilgrim hat with popsicle sticks. You can use markers or paint it is very customizable.

Paper Plate Pilgrims – You are going to love using extra paper plates you have on hand to create these cute pilgrim girls and boys.

DIY Pilgrim Bonnet or Hat – This bonnet or Pilgrim hat would be a lot of fun for kids to wear for a Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving Crafts Using Paper Plates

Paper plates are easy to use for crafts because you normally always have them on hand. They are sturdy and easy for small hands to manipulate and use.

Paper Plate Turkey – This is a classic paper plate turkey craft that is easy and fun for all ages.

Turkey Wreath from Paper Plates – This adorable turkey wreath will look great hanging up on your door or in the dining room.

Cherry Pie Plate Craft – Your kids will enjoy creating their own pretend pie for a fun play feast.

Sponge Painted Turkey Craft – Create an adorable turkey with sponge painting feathers.

Mayflower Ship – Learn about the Mayflower by creating this iconic ship out of paper plates.

Thanksgiving Dinner Placemats

If you are setting a kids’ table this Thanksgiving season, these dinner placemats will be a huge hit at their table. They will have so much fun creating them and coloring on them while they are waiting for dinner to be served.

Printable Thanksgiving Placemats – These placemats are full of fun games, activities, mazes and coloring fun.

Placemat Fun with Printable Place Cards – More fun printable placemats and place cards for the table.

Thanksgiving Parade Placemat – The Thanksgiving parade is a fun tradition for many families. Your kids will have fun with these parade themed mats.

Scrapbook Paper Crayon Holder and Placemat – Create your own crayon holder and placemat for the table with these crafts.

Fall Colors Weaving Placemat Craft – Your little ones will enjoy practicing paper weaving with this fun craft.

Thanksgiving Toilet Paper Rolls Crafts

Toilet paper roll crafts are easy crafts because you most likely will have them on hand in your house. They are great for small hands, and they look really cute when they are completed.

Cardboard Turkey Toilet Paper Roll Craft – These cardboard turkeys are a cute laying down style and not the upright animals you normally see. 

Turkey Windsock Craft – Create a pretty windsock decoration with this fun toilet paper tube craft.

Leaf Turkey Craft – Decorate this toilet paper roll with leaves and create a festive Fall themed turkey decoration.

Pilgrim Recycled Craft – Make these cute pilgrim dolls with fabric and cardboard tubes.

Gratitude Turkey Craft – This toiler paper roll turkey has spaces to write what you are thankful for on the turkey feathers.

Thanksgiving Decor Crafts

I love crafts that double as decoration. This is a great way to keep your kids busy, learn some handicrafts and get some cheap decor for your home at the same time. These are great for all ages to do together. 

Fall Leaf Suncatchers – These look great in a kitchen window and are easy to make with this printable leaf template.

Mason Jar Fall Luminaries – We love the way these look lit up on a table and they are very simple to make.

Fall Candle Centerpiece – This lovely centerpiece can be made with all dollar store items.

Dollar Store DIY Fall Leaf Garland – Shopping at the dollar store is a great way to decorate your home on a budget. Your kids will enjoy stringing these cute fall leaves and making their own leaf garland.

DIY Fall Pom Pom and Felt Garland – This is a great handicraft that looks so pretty hanging up and can be used year after year in your decor.

Fall Leaves Crafts

We love using fall leaves in our crafts for Thanksgiving. They look great in decorations around the home as well.

Pinecone Turkeys Craft – Create a cute turkey from found pine cones and leaves.

Painting Leaves – Painting fall leaves is a fun activity that has some lovely results.

Leaf Turkey Craft – We love this cute turkey with leaf feathers.

Thanksgiving Turkey Leaf Lanterns – These mason jar lanterns are so beautiful that they double as table decor.

Leaf Family Tree – This sweet craft will have you and your children gathering fall leaves from the yard and learning about family connections as you assemble it. 

Writing Prompts for Thanksgiving

Writing prompts are a great idea for older kids that may not be interested in making crafts. These are great for reflection and can even be used with the whole family on Thanksgiving day to share around the dinner table. 

Creative Writing Prompts About Thanksgiving – This cute printable pack has writing prompt pages and coloring pages for small children.

Thanksgiving Prompts that Are Good for the Soul – These writing prompts are specifically geared for teens.

Free Writing Prompts About Thanksgiving – You will love this huge list of writing prompts to give your children around Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Cut and Paste Crafts

Little ones love to cut and glue and it is great for building fine motor skills. All you need is some construction paper and printable paper crafts. 

Build a Turkey – Printable turkey template cut and paste activity.

Cut and Paste Cornucopia – Your kids will have fun building and filling this cornucopia.

Confetti Corn Craft – Create a cute Indian corn craft by cutting out confetti from construction paper to make the corn cob.

Painting Projects for Thanksgiving

These painting projects are fun for the whole family. If you take a week off of school for the holiday season you may be looking for some fun ideas to do for family time.

Simple Thanksgiving Tree – Create a simple thankful tree on a canvas by painting leaves with a paper towel or toilet paper tube. 

Easy Painted Rock Turkey Tutorial – Learn how to make some turkey painted rocks to share or hide for Thanksgiving.

How to Paint a Pumpkin on Canvas – This easy tutorial will have you and your kids creating a beautiful pumpkin painting for your home.

Turkey Painting Tutorial  – Step-by-step tutorial to paint an adorable turkey wall decor.

Nature Crafts

We love nature and nature crafts are perfect for Fall as you can search for leaves and pine cones and items outside to bring inside. 

Laced Leaf Suncatchers – This is a wonderful handicraft that you can laminate and hang up.

Painted Acorns – These brightly colored acorns will look beautiful in a bowl on the table. 

Fall Leaf Crown – Make a lovely fall crown from leaves found around your home.

Bark Owls – Bark owls are a cute addition to a fireplace mantle or to add to a centerpiece for your table.

More Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

Listen in for some Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids ideas from Felice at The Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network. She has many years of experience as a busy homeschooling mom and now Grandma. She has an awesome list of crafts that are broken down into different types: crafts for fun, for decoration, for gift giving and for helping to build character.