Your preschoolers will love any of these activities while you prepare your home for Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest holidays of the year. When you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you mostly would be praying for more hours on the big day!
You have to clean the house, put up some decorations, prepare a feast, and make sure that your guests will be having a great time. Everything takes a lot of time and effort.
Now what if you have toddlers in the family? The little ones would do more trouble than good in all the hustle and bustle of preparations. And it will be hard to keep an eye on them at all times.
Don’t worry, Mama! We got your back. Here, we have compiled 20 Thanksgiving activities that your preschoolers can do at home.
These activities can keep them busy enough while you do your tasks. Just check how they are doing from time to time.
1. Thankful tree
Thanksgiving is a time to pause, reflect, and appreciate the blessings that we have been given. And that is something you should teach your kids too. So why not ask them to make a Thankful Tree?
It makes for a great additional decor too for Thanksgiving dinner! Check out how to pull this off from The DIY Mommy!
2. Toilet paper roll turkey
Do you collect toilet paper rolls for DIY projects or crafts? If so, this will work out great for you and the kids!
You will need some googly eyes, scrapbook paper or any colored paper, and a nice holding glue. Your kids can make a thousand colorful combinations with this idea. You can use this too to decorate the house for Thanksgiving dinner.
Visit Kid-Friendly Things to Do for the instructions!
3. Thanksgiving slime
Slime is an amazing sensory play toy for little kids and it keeps them fascinated! Thankfully, they are easy to create at home.
Here is a great Thanksgiving slime recipe that comes with glitter and confetti that will keep kids busy and mesmerizing.
Get the full recipe and instructions from Little Bins for Little Hands!
4. Pinecone turkey
Do you have a lot of pinecones falling on the ground in your place? Use that for this Thanksgiving craft!
A few days before the big day, go for a nature walk and challenge the kids to gather as many pinecones as they can. This will give you some time to clean them up. Then go to the store to get feathers and googly eyes.
Get the instructions from A Pumpkin and a Princess!
5. Turkey bowling game
Here’s a game that you can prepare in advance to keep the kids busy on the big day. Turkey bowling!
Here, the bowling pins are Turkey plastic cups. You can then use a small ball like a bowling ball. This will keep the kids entertained for hours!
Check out The Seasoned Mom for the full instructions!
6. Corn husk headband and wand
Do you have little girls at home? They will have fun crafting this corn husk headband and wand.
You will need some dried corn husks (you have to prepare this ahead) and some paint or chalk markers. They will be proudly wearing this one during your Thanksgiving feast later on!
Get the instructions from Hello Wonderful.
7. Footprint turkey with stained glass wings
Here’s a craft that is not only easy but will also take some time, and so much fun to finish!
When done, hang it in the windows. Your kids can revel in the sight of the sunlight causing reflective colors through the stained glass wings!
Visit Meaningful Mama for the steps.
8. Turkey windsocks
Here’s a Thanksgiving craft that doubles as decor when it’s done.
You will need empty cans, ribbons, feathers, and craft paper. It is a project that your kids can mix and match to create their craft. It’s very easy and it looks cute enough to impress your guests!
Visit Happiness Is Homemade for the instructions!
9. Stuff the Turkey game
Here’s another game for the kiddos while you are prepping up! Their cousins can join in later when they arrive. Even the adults can join in and enjoy this too!
Get the full instruction from Kid Friendly Things to Do!
10. Mayflower ship art
The Mayflower ship is one of the popular icons of Thanksgiving. So why not make the kids recreate it?
Here is an easy kids’ craft that your preschoolers can easily pull off!
Get the instructions from the Kids Activities Blog!
11. Leafy friends
Since Thanksgiving is celebrated during the fall season, the trees around us shower us with leaves of beautiful colors and shapes. Use these fallen leaves to create these crafts!
Days before Thanksgiving, go out with the little ones for a stroll and make them pick out the most colorful leaves they can find in different forms. When you get home, clean up the leaves and press them between the pages of a heavy book. Then they can create different faces with these on Thanksgiving day!
Check out more examples from Handmade Charlotte!
12. Printable Thanksgiving activity book
You may also create your own Thanksgiving activities book for your preschoolers. These can keep them busy for hours.
Aside from coloring pages, there are puzzles, word games, mazes, and the likes. You can get these activity pages online, print them, and bind them to form a book!
Check out Happiness is Homemade for a good example of these downloadable pages!
13. Feed the Turkey game
If you only have one child, this is a game that will keep him/her preoccupied even if there’s nobody to play with. This simple activity can help exercise hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Visit Busy Toddler for more details!
14. Thanksgiving coloring pages
Keep things simple with just crayons or colored pencils! Simply print out a lot of Thanksgiving coloring pages to keep the kids busy.
There are also coloring pages for adults that you can get online to keep older kids busy too.
Visit The Turquoise Home for a great sample of these Thanksgiving coloring pages!
15. Thanksgiving paper tube dolls
Here’s another set of game for your kiddos! Create these Thanksgiving paper tube dolls.
You can even use these dolls to tell your kids the story of the first Thanksgiving meal! Visit Fun Family Crafts for the tutorial!
16. Sponge painting turkey plate
Hopefully these won’t get your kids too dirty since they’ll be using a sponge to paint. Fewer worries for you! You can prepare the plate with the turkey face ahead of time so all they have to do is paint it.
Check out The Resourceful Mama on how to pull this off!
17. Turkey headband
Will you have a lot of kids coming over for your Thanksgiving dinner? You can assign the kids to make turkey headbands for them. This is a very easy craft!
Check out the instructions on I Heart Crafty Things!
18. Turkey cars
If your preschooler loves cars, he will like making this Thanksgiving craft!
You will need some paper plates and craft paper to make handprint feathers. When done, they can have them on display and even play with it!
Get the instructions from Glued to My Crafts.
19. Pilgrim hat
Let the kids create their own pilgrim hats to celebrate the holiday!
Here’s a downloadable template. Your kids just have to put the whole thing together.
Download the pilgrim hat template from Alpha Mom!
20. Handprint turkey
Of course, this list would not be complete without the classic handprint turkey craft. This is probably the simplest of these activities that will help the preschoolers do the classic Thanksgiving turkey!
Ready for your Thanksgiving activities?
These Thanksgiving activities are incredibly easy so your preschoolers do not have to keep running to you and asking for help.
With these, you will have time to focus more on tasks that need to be done in the kitchen and around the house!
Need more ideas for Thanksgiving? Check these out!
- Food List for Thanksgiving: Dinner Menu Ideas that Everyone Will Love!
- 30 Thanksgiving Cake Recipes for a Festive Celebration!
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