Thanksgiving is another one of those fun holidays that is perfect for kids and crafts. There are so many cute and simple crafts that your kiddos can make and display proudly throughout the house during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Turkeys made out of construction paper, the Mayflower made out of a coffee cup sleeve, and DIY Thanksgiving garland are among the many different Thanksgiving crafts that can be easily made with kids.
Crafts are a great way to spend more time with your children, while teaching them about different things, in this case the history of Thanksgiving. Your kiddos can develop better fine motor skills, boost their creative thinking, and become better at following instructions. Crafts can do so much more than add goofy decorations to your home.
At Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center, we encourage kids to be creative and help them to develop in many different ways, from motor skills to social and emotional development. We encourage kids to be independent and develop self-confidence, which can be stimulated through crafts. While we work hard to help you children grow and develop, you can also do a lot at home to help them develop even further.
If you aren’t a creative person, don’t worry. We will help give you ideas for different crafts that are easy and fun for kids and you! Read on to learn more about this cute Thanksgiving crafts!
Turkey
There are many different turkey crafts out there, and while some seem more challenging than others and are better for an older crowd, there is a turkey craft for everyone! Let’s start with the basic turkey that everyone has most likely made in their childhood.
Handprint Turkey
For this turkey, you will need cardstock or some other heavy duty paper. You will also need paint—preferably in fall colors, like orange, red, yellow, and brown—a paint brush, and some googly eyes. This is a simple craft but kids will love it because they get to be messy.
Paint your child’s palm and thumb with the brown paint and the other four fingers with the red, orange, and yellow paint. Have them place their little handprint on the cardstock with their fingers spread apart wide. You now have the base for the turkey. Next have your kiddo paint orange legs on the turkey on the bottom of the body. Have them paint a beak and the wattle on the turkey, and guide them to use the orange paint for the beak and the red for the wattle. Then all you have to do is stick the googly eye to the turkey and voila! The turkey is complete and perfect to hang on the fridge for everyone to see!
Handprint Turkey #2
This handprint turkey is a little more intricate than the simple painted turkey. For this turkey craft you will need construction paper, glue (the liquid or the stick), scissors, and googly eyes.
Start by tracking your kids hands a few times on different colored paper. If you trust them with scissors, you can have them cut their hands out or you can. You will also need to cut a body out. This body should look like a snowman with only two balls, a bigger one on the bottom is the body and a smaller one up top making the head. One the body and handprints are cut out, have your kids glue the handprints to the back of the turkey as the tail feathers, so that part of the hands are still showing, not just the fingers. You can use any color hand prints, but if you want it to be more fall themed red, orange, and yellow colored construction paper will be best.
After the “feathers” are glued to the back, make sure the paper is dry and flip it over to finish the face. Place your googly eyes on the turkey’s head and then cut out a beak and wattle to finish the face. Your construction paper handprint turkey is now complete!
Pinecone Turkey
This is another simple but adorable turkey craft that your kids will love! For this turkey, you will need pinecones, which can be easily collected outside, colorful feathers, googly eyes, and some orange felt or construction paper. To ensure nothing falls apart, hot glue stick may be a better decision than other glue.
Place the googly eyes on the bottom of the pinecone, this will be the face. Next cut the felt or construction paper into a small triangle for the beak, glue that to the pinecone under the eyes. If you want to add the wattle, get some red felt or construction paper as well. Then have your kiddos pick out some colorful feathers for the tail. If you are using regular glue, have them pour some into the crevasses in the back of the pinecone and stick the feathers in, standing straight up. Let the turkey dry and display them proudly as a centerpiece at your Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Garland
This is a fun craft that allows your kids to be messy and color outside of the lines, but also looks like an actual decoration that could add some festive charm to your home. You will need paper bags (paper grocery bags work great), paint (again fall colors), markers, painting sponges, clothespins, and a string or ribbon. You will also need a stencil or a cutout of a leaf or different types of leaves.
Start by laying out the paper bags for your kiddos. Let them scribble on them with red, orange, and green markets. Then let them paint over the scribbles with the sponges, using red, yellow, orange, and green paint. Once the paint is dry, use the leaf stencils to cut out a bunch of leafs. If you are using a ribbon, use a hot glue gun to glue the clothespins onto the ribbon. If you are using twine or rope, you can tie the rope around the clothespins so they don’t all slide to the middle.
Pin the leaf cutouts to the ribbon or twine and hang the beautiful and handmade garland in a doorway or on the wall. This is a beautiful decoration that is fun for kids to make!
Coffee Cup Sleeve Mayflower
For this craft you will need a coffee cup sleeve (just save the sleeve from your daily coffee), an egg carton, white cardstock, hot glue, popsicle sticks, and scissors.
Start by undoing the glue that is currently holding the coffee sleeve together. Then flip it inside out and use the hot glue gun to reglue the sleeve, but inside out so the ridged side is showing. Cut the egg carton so that two of the prongs between the eggs are sticking up. Use the scissors to poke holes in these raised areas. Have your kids stick the egg carton in the coffee sleeve, you may need to glue it. Then take the popsicle sticks and stick them in the slits in the egg carton. Have your kids cut out the sails for the boat. One should be large, fitting on the entire popsicle stick, the others should be small and medium sized, these two will on of the other popsicle stick. It is okay is they are long, it will give the sails a windblown look.
If your kids want their can decorate the sails or write their names, but if not then these ships are ready to sail!
There are many different Thanksgiving day crafts that can be fun for your kids and you to do together. Decorate your home with the festive artwork they made. Use their pinecone turkeys and coffee sleeve Mayflowers as the centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner.
These craft can help your kid learn how to follow instructions, help them develop a creative mindset and fine motor skills, and are a great way to bond. At Yellow Brick Road, we encourage our students to use their creativity regularly and use their individuality. These crafts can help them. Learn more about our school and get started on these fun crafts today!