Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude, family gatherings, and delicious feasts. But it’s also a wonderful opportunity for kids to dive into the world of thanksgiving art and crafts. This list offers a delightful mix of traditional and innovative thanksgiving crafts ideas that will not only keep the little ones engaged but also add a personal touch to your celebrations. So, gather your art supplies and let your children’s creativity shine.
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12 Unique and Fun Thanksgiving Crafts
There are several Thanksgiving crafts to make the holiday fun, and entertaining for children. Check out these awesome Thanksgiving craft ideas for your kids to have a wonderful & crafty Thanksgiving!
1. Mayflower Ship Craft
Kids can create their own version of the Mayflower ship using simple materials, fostering learning about the history of Thanksgiving.
Materials Required: Paper cups, brown and white construction paper, straws, glue, scissors.
How to Make Mayflower Ship Craft:
Step 1. Cut the paper cup in half to form the ship’s hull and paint or cover it with brown paper.
Step 2. Cut out sails from white paper and attach them to straws using glue or tape.
Step 3. Insert the straw sails into the paper cup hull, securing them with glue if needed.
2. Thanksgiving Menu Card
If your kid is old enough to write and use watercolors, you can ask them to create their own Thanksgiving menu card to place on the table. This Thanksgiving craft idea will also help to improve your kid’s calligraphy skills.
Material Required: Cardboard sheets, colorful glitter pens, and watercolors.
How to make a Thanksgiving Menu Card:
Step 1. Help your kid to cut equal size cardboard sheets to create separate menu cards for each guest.
Step 2. Now, leave your kid alone with colors so they can use their creativity to draw and write an adorable menu card. Once the menu cards are done, ask your kid to hand them over to guests before dinner.
Related Reading: 20 Thanksgiving Games for the Whole Family to Play Together
3. Leaf Napkin Rings
Napkins are one of the important dinner table accessories and a great Thanksgiving craft idea. Your kids can make cute napkin rings by cutting leaves from old fabrics and papers to decorate your dinner table.
Material Required: Old fabric, papers, scissors, and twines.
How to Make Leaf Napkin Rings:
Step 1. Ask your kid to draw leaves on the different paper and fabric scraps.
Step 2. If your kid is still young, supervise while he or she cuts leaves from the fabric/paper.
Step 3. Cut out a small hole in the leaves to tie them together and form a ring shape to put napkins in it.
4. Lace Pumpkins
Lace pumpkin is a simple yet elegant Thanksgiving craft idea. You can put this Thanksgiving craft on a mantlepiece in your living room or dining table and brag about your kid’s creativity all night.
Material Required: Small pumpkins, glue sticks, and different types of lace tapes.
How to Make Lace Pumpkins:
Step 1. Hunt down your Halloween decorations and look for plastic pumpkins or any type of other pumpkin decorations.
Step 2. Using lace, your kid can now easily turn scary pumpkins into elegant centerpieces by cutting out different shapes to decorate the pumpkin.
Related Reading: Heartwarming Thanksgiving Wishes for Kids to Share with Everyone
5. Cupcake Liner Owls
Owls are wise and adorable creatures. And they are super easy to make with waste cupcake liners. So if you have a bunch of toddlers in your family, give them some cupcake liners and sketch pens to create owls while the elders can mingle without any disturbance.
Material Required: Paper cupcake liners, colorful papers, googly eyes, leaf embellishments, glue, scissors, and markers.
How to Make Cupcake Liner Owls:
Step 1. Flat out cupcake liners to get inner circles. Be careful so that you don’t tear them.
Step 2. Help your kid to fold the liners inward from both sides, leaving a narrow gap in the center.
Step 3. Make a small fold to form the owl’s face.
Step 4. Allow your kid to decorate the owl’s body with colorful papers, markers, leaf embellishments, and don’t forget to stick googly eyes with glue.
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6. Painted Rocks
This is a classic Thanksgiving craft idea for kids. Almost every age group of kids can enjoy creating this craft. From finding the rocks to decorating them is sufficient to keep your kids busy till dinner time.
Material Required: Rocks, watercolors, glitters, and glue.
How to Make Painted Rocks:
Step 1. Take your kids to a beach or countryside to pick some rocks before Thanksgiving.
Step 2. On Thanksgiving day, create a craft station for your kids where they can paint and decorate rocks as they want. Don’t worry about them getting dirty – just let your kids have fun and get their creativity on!.
7. Toilet Paper Turkey
Little kids always want to help in the kitchen but parents can’t take that risk, especially on Thanksgiving! If your kid wants to help you stuff the turkey, give them empty toilet paper tubes and ask them to make their own turkey to decorate the dinner table.
Material Required: Toilet paper tube, glue, googly eyes, colorful cardstocks, and papers.
How to Make Toilet Paper Turkey:
Step 1. Allow kids to create a turkey’s face with the brown paper, eyes, beak, and gobble.
Step 2. Cut 5 feathers from different colors of paper and stick them on the back of the toilet paper tube with glue.
Step 3. Also, stick the turkey face on the tube and cut a beak out of orange cardstock to complete the miniature turkey bird.
Related Reading: 50 Corny & Funny Thanksgiving Jokes for Kids & Adults
8. Quirky Leaf Friends
This is a perfect Thanksgiving craft to welcome the new harvest season. For this craft, you have to take your kids out on Thanksgiving morning, so they can pick dry leaves. Next, you can now help your kids make quirky leaf friends and put them in their books as bookmarks.
Material Required: Sketch pens and different sizes of leaves.
How to Make Quirky & Decorated Leaves:
Step 1. Take your kids to the park or in your backyard to pick some dry leaves.
Step 2. Give them colorful markers to give a face and smiley expressions to the leaves. Your kids can give these quirky leaves to guests attending your Thanksgiving dinner as a thank you token.
9. Pine Cone Turkeys
Turn pine cones into adorable turkeys with just a few simple supplies. It’s a great way to explore nature and be creative.
Materials Required: Pine cones, construction paper, scissors, glue, googly eyes.
How to Make Pine Cone Turkeys:
Step 1: Cut feather shapes from different colored construction papers.
Step 2: Glue the feathers to the back of a pine cone to create a fan-like tail.
Step 3: Attach googly eyes and a small triangle of orange paper for the beak to the front of the pine cone.
10. Yarn Pumpkin Craft
If your kids are old enough to handle glue and yarn without making a mess, this could be a very nice Thanksgiving craft to decorate your home.
Material Required: Balloons, orange yarn, hot glue, and scissors.
How to Make a Yarn Pumpkin:
Step 1. Take a small balloon and blow air in it.
Step 2. Cover orange yarn with glue and start draping it around the balloon to form zig-zag patterns.
Step 3. Once the balloon is fully covered with yarn, leave it to dry.
Step 4. Now, let’s move to the fun part! Help your kid to burst the balloon and gently remove it from inside the yarn ball.
Step 5. Your kid can create multiple yarn balls and hang them in your living room to celebrate turkey day.
11. Turkey Handprint Art
One of the most classic kids thanksgiving crafts, the turkey handprint art captures the essence of turkey art in a memorable way.
Material Required: Paints (various colors), white paper, markers, and paintbrushes.
How to Make Turkey Handprint Art:
Step 1. Paint your child’s palm and fingers with different colors.
Step 2. Press their hand onto the white paper to leave a colorful handprint.
Step 3. Once dry, use markers to add eyes, beak, and legs to turn the handprint into a turkey.
12. Thanksgiving Placemats
Let your kids create their own placemats for the Thanksgiving dinner table. This DIY thanksgiving crafts idea is a wonderful way to involve them in the dinner preparations and showcase their artistic talents.
Material Required: Large construction paper, crayons, markers, Thanksgiving-themed stickers, and laminating sheets (optional).
How to Make Thanksgiving Placemats:
Step 1. Let your kids draw or color a Thanksgiving scene or write what they’re thankful for on the construction paper.
Step 2. They can also decorate with stickers.
Step 3. Once done, you can laminate them to make them more durable and spill-proof.
Related Reading: Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Kids to Keep Them Busy!
Just Pick Thanksgiving Crafts to Make the Turkey Day Special!
Art is the best way to capture your kid’s interest and evoke holiday spirit among them. Thanksgiving is all about celebrating and sharing together.
With these easy Thanksgiving crafts for kids, you can involve your kids more in the Thanksgiving preparations. These crafts can also help your entire family to bond on this special day.
So, get your art supplies and start making unique Thanksgiving crafts with your children. SplashLearn wishes you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is craft important for kids?
Making crafts help to improve the coordination and fine motor skills of kids. It can also help to boost children’s development and analytical skills.
Why is art in child education important?
Can I make Thanksgiving crafts for kids from waste materials?
Yes, Thanksgiving day crafts can be made from waste materials. In fact, you should encourage your kids to use things available in your home to create Thanksgiving decorations.
How can parents encourage thanksgiving art activities at home?
Parents can set up a dedicated craft station with all the necessary supplies. They can also involve kids in choosing which crafts to make, ensuring a sense of ownership and excitement. Remember, the goal is to have fun and create memories, not perfection.
What are some other fun crafts for thanksgiving?
Apart from the crafts mentioned above, kids can also engage in making Thanksgiving greeting cards, designing a family gratitude tree where each leaf is a note of thanks, or even creating a Thanksgiving storybook with their own illustrations and narratives.
