Kids love a good craft activity, and parents love seeing their littles having fun—even better are the crafts that contribute to their growth and development while making that fun happen! As the holiday season approaches, there are lots of ways to bring these experiences together through hands-on Thanksgiving crafts for kids.
Whether you’re looking to fill the holiday break with enrichment or simply entertain the kids’ table on Turkey Day, we’ve got you covered with a list of interactive crafts that embody all the best parts of the Thanksgiving season.
Hand and Footprint Turkeys
Let’s start out with a craft that really gets your hands (and feet!) dirty. Kids can illustrate a bright and cheery turkey using their palms and soles. A Little Partners Learning Tower elevates the process by boosting smaller kids up to counter height so you can work on this creative craft collaboratively.
This Thanksgiving classic requires the following items:
- Red, orange, yellow, and brown craft paint
- White, red, and orange construction paper
- Googly eyes
- Scissors
- Glue
- Baby wipes (for hands and feet)
You’ll first coat the underside of your child’s hand in red paint before pressing it flat on a sheet of white paper. Clean up and repeat this step with the orange and yellow paints, overlapping the three handprints on the page to emulate turkey feathers. The same goes for the bottom of your child’s foot: coat it in brown paint (with orange paint on their toes!) and press it flat on a separate sheet of white paper.
Put these two papers aside to dry and move on to making the beak and the wattle (we recommend hanging them on a Deluxe Learn ‘N Play Art Center Easel with the included clips!).
Help your kiddo cut out a small triangle (beak) and teardrop shape (waddle) from the orange and red construction paper, respectively. Once the hand and footprints have dried, cut around those colorful shapes to isolate the wings and body of the turkey. Invert the brown footprint so that the heel becomes the turkey’s head, gluing the single sheet of wings to the back of it.
Finish the turkey by gluing on the beak, waddle, and a single googly eye to really bring it to life! Your assembled turkey can now be glued onto another sheet of colored paper or magnetized to the fridge for a bit of festive decor.
Thanksgiving-Themed Slime
You don’t often associate autumn with slime, but we have a great and gooey craft that’ll please kids who enjoy a tactile activity! Toddler-age children are able to join the fun in our 3-in-1 Learning Booster Seat and Step Stool, and older crafters will relish the chance to squish and squeeze this shiny cranberry sauce-themed Thanksgiving slime.
This seasonal slime requires the following items:
- ½ c. clear Elmer’s glue
- ½ c. warm water
- ½ c. Sta-Flo liquid starch
- A few drops of red food coloring
- Sequins or glitter
- Large bowl
- Mixing spoon
Mix the glue and water in the bowl before adding in as many sequins or as much glitter as your child desires. Slowly pour in the liquid starch while stirring the mixture, and that’s just about it! The mixture will be a little thin and slippery at first, but it solidifies with consistent kneading and play, so it’ll get better and better.
It’s important to note that this isn’t an ideal craft if your kiddo is a chewer or has an oral fixation. But this is a simple yet dynamic activity that creates a reusable slime material—one you could even save in a sealed glass jar or baggie and bring out again as needed. While it’s not among the most common Thanksgiving crafts for kids, it’s certainly among the most appreciated!
Marbled Fall Leaves
Thanksgiving doesn’t necessarily mean indoor-only activities. Task your little one with collecting leaves in the yard or on a nature walk to use for a lovely paint craft! The foraging aspect adds an extra sense of wonder on top of being a learning opportunity: for instance, turn it into a game like name-that-tree, or Which color is it?”
This eye-catching creation requires the following items:
- Maple leaves or other local foliage
- Pencil and cardstock paper
- Shaving cream
- Skewer or fork
- Piece of cardboard
- Paint (colors of your choosing)
- Scissors
- Disposable foil pan
Using the leaves you’ve collected as a family, trace them onto cardstock paper then cut out your leaf “templates.” Fill the foil pan with a thick layer of shaving cream, where you’ll squeeze drops of paint across the top—go with red, orange, and yellow to keep the fall theme going!
Have your child swirl the paint into the shaving cream using a skewer or fork, dragging the colors around until they’ve mixed well on the surface. They can achieve this in their Explore ‘N Store Learning Tower next to the kitchen sink for easy cleanup.
You’ll then lay each cardstock leaf down flat on the painted shaving cream before carefully removing it and scraping the remaining cream off with the piece of cardboard. It’ll leave (hah!) behind a pretty colored pattern of paint on each leaf! Let them dry, make as many as you like, and tape them to string or twine to craft a fun fall banner.
Paper Pumpkins
Lastly, here’s a paper pumpkin craft to wow your kids and create a neat Thanksgiving dinner table centerpiece. Mom or Dad definitely should definitely help with the scissors and hot glue gun on this one, but your little one will make a wonderful assistant. Each of these adorable pumpkins uses two 8.5x11” pieces of paper.
This cut-out craft requires the following items:
- Orange/patterned paper of your choice
- Paper cutter (guillotine-style for accuracy) or scissors
- Double-sided tape
- Hot glue gun
- Sticks
- Twine
- Scissors
Start by cutting one page vertically into five 1.5-inch wide strips using the paper cutter. Then cut each of your strips accordingly: one 7-inch long, two 9-inch long, and keep the remaining two at 11 inches long. Do this to a second sheet of paper so that you have strips measuring 7 inches long (2), 9 inches long (4), and 11 inches long (4), all at 1.5 inches wide. You could demonstrate how to cut paper in this way by using your Learning Tower at the table with your toddler and letting them do the counting!
You’re then going to fold each of your 10 strips accordion-style along their lengths The folds should be about half an inch wide. Grab the double-sided tape and attach your two sets of the same length at each end to form five circles. The 7-inch-long strips get taped together (1 pair), the 9-inch-long strips get taped together (2 pairs), and the 11-inch-long strips get taped together (2 pairs).
Glue your funky circles together in the center to form “medallions” by bending the circle inward. Looking at the circles from the top, you pinch them together and dab the center with some hot glue to secure it. Wait a moment until it’s dried, repeating this step for all five of your circles before stacking them together and gluing to attach.
The 7-inch medallion is your top, followed by the two 9-inch medallions then the two 11-inch medallions. This creates a gradually thickening pumpkin! To finish it off, glue on a small stick (about an inch long) and some twine, maybe even cutting out a green leaf or two to attach to your “stem.” Alternatively, you could collect pine cones and paint them orange for a similarly cute and easy decor item, but we love the cognitive challenge of this craft!
Bring Little Partners to the Table
These Thanksgiving crafts for kids are just the tip of the turkey’s wing. There are so many ways to play and there’s so much to be thankful for, including the opportunity to craft something special with your little ones. We only get so many years with them at this age, so cherish them fully by incorporating Little Partners toys and furniture into your crafting routine.
Little Partners specializes in giving children the tools they need to thrive creatively, especially when it comes to modeling Montessori values. Our products combine fun and functionality to empower your kids as they learn lessons, create masterpieces, and explore the world around them confidently—and safely.
Our Greenguard Gold Certification, coupled with a longstanding commitment to the Forest Stewardship Council, ensures that we provide children with the healthiest and most eco-friendly toys and furniture on the market. This quality is reflected in our lifetime warranty (on everything!) so you know you’re getting the best products for your little turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving from your Little Partners family!