Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Preschoolers

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remind our kids how much God has blessed them. During the month of November, use these Thanksgiving activities for preschoolers as a fun way to encourage a heart of thanksgiving in your little one.

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Thanksgiving Activities For Preschoolers

Here you’ll hands-on preschool Thanksgiving activities, thanksgiving crafts, and ideas to enjoy with the whole family.

1. Build a Turkey

• Print out the turkey head (pdf file below). Tape it to a stainer (This strainer came from the Dollar Tree). Preschoolers can add feathers in several ways:
  • Practice fine motor skills by trying to get the turkey feathers into the holes.
  • Sort and put in one or two colors.
  • Counting Game (for more than one person). Each person starts with the same number of feathers. Taking turns they draw a number (or roll a dice) and place that many feathers into the strainer. The first one out of turkey feathers is the winner.

Print out your turkey head.

Turkey Head – pdf download

2. Bake a pumpkin pie together.

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete with pumpkin pie! Libby’s pumpkin pie mix has a great recipe right on the can.

3. Start a Thankful Pumpkin

Start a new tradition. At the beginning of November, start a Thankful Pumpkin. Starting at the top, write what each person is thankful for and write things they are thankful for.

4. Make butter or whipped cream

Children will have so much fun making butter and /or whipped cream for Thanksgiving dinner. When Thanksgiving day comes around they will be proud to know they helped contribute to the dinner. Check out  Farm Activities for Preschoolers to find easy instructions for making both butter and whipped cream.

5. Enjoy a Family Night of Star-Gazing

Spend the evening as a family looking up at the stars. Talk about how David, as a shepherd, spent time under the stars thinking and singing songs (Psalms) about how thankful he was and how wonderful God was.

6. Watch Veggie Tale’s Madame Blueberry

Enjoy a family movie night with this fun Veggie Tale movie about Madame Blueberry, who has everything but still isn’t happy until she learns a valuable lesson about being thankful.

7. Visit a Native American Pow-Wow

See if there is a Pow-wow for Native Americans in your area. Kids of all ages enjoy events like this. Check out the Powwow Calendar to find a Powwow in the United States or Canada.

8. Take a nature walk in the woods
   • explore
   • look for animal tracks
   • try to walk without anyone hearing your footsteps

9. Go Camping

If you don’t want to take an actual trip or can’t go camping this time of year in your area, then camp out in the living room or in the basement. Camping is a lot of fun for the whole family. it’s also a great time to point out some of the things God has blessed us with. 

10. Take a canoe trip

11. Help someone.

Let your child help an elderly friend or family member. Or look for something you can do as a family to help those in need in your area. Usually, churches are doing something this time of year. Let your little be as involved as possible.

   12. Read Thanksgiving books with your little one. Find preschool picture books about the first Thanksgiving and our Thanksgiving tradition, books about being thankful, and silly turkey books at Books about Thanksgiving for Preschoolers.

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Thanksgiving Preschool Crafts

1. Turkey Hand and Shoeprint

Trace your child’s shoe on brown construction paper. Using brown paint, make handprints around the shoe print to look like feathers. Draw or add wiggle eyes, an orange beak, and a red waddle and legs.

2. Turkey Handprint with Feathers

Make a brown paint handprint. Then add turkey feathers, a googly eye, an orange beak, and a red waddle.

3. Indian Shirt

Dye a t-shirt brown and cut fringe. If the shirt is long, enough girls can wear it as a dress. I have also used a pillowcase for this project. Older preschoolers can and beads. 

For a headband, cut a strip of brown construction paper or a brown paper bag. Add turkey feathers.

4. Foam Turkey Craft

Thanksgiving Arts and Craft kits like this come with everything you need to make cute decorations for Thanksgiving with very little prep work. You can find them at places like Hobby Lobby or Oriental Trade.

5. More Creative Ideas for Thanksgiving Crafts

• With beads and some feathers, your preschooler can make one of these Feather Necklaces by Early Learning Ideas
• Here’s an easy art project even young children will enjoy – Turkey Tracks Turkey Art With Kids by Fun-A-Day
• With coffee filters, cloth pins, and some googly eyes  young kids can create their own adorable turkeys with this Turkey Filter Craft by Little Bins Little Hands 
• Here is an awesome brown paper bag turkey craft by Crafty Morning. It’s a turkey bag puppet that has things your little one is thankful for written on the front.

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Thanksgiving Preschool Songs on Spotify

Click below to access a collection of my favorite Thanksgiving Preschool Songs on Spotify to enjoy during the Thanksgiving season.

Go to Spotify Playlist

Also, be sure to check out:

• Books about Thanksgiving for Preschoolers
• Farm Activities for Preschoolers
• Fall Activities for Preschoolers

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours. God Bless!

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