Five Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Thanksgiving is approaching! Kick off the festivities with some creative and colorful crafts for toddlers and preschoolers.

Handprint Turkey

This colorful turkey requires adult help, mostly to guide the hands and feet onto the paper. Have fun getting messy!

Supplies:

• Large square piece of white construction paper
• Washable Paint (brown, blue, yellow orange, red, and green)
• 6 Large paintbrushes
• Yellow construction paper
• Orange construction paper
• Googly eyes

Instructions:

1. Paint right hand in any color of choosing, except for brown, and press down at center of the top of the paper
2. Repeat this step, using each color, fanning handprints. Colors will likely smear together, creating the appearance of feathers.
3. Once handprints are dry, paint the bottom of your foot brown and press onto center of “feathers,” toes down
4. While the footprint dries, cut out the beak from the yellow construction paper and the wattle (also known as a gobbler) from the orange construction paper
5. Glue the eyes, beak, and wattle to the heel of the footprint

If you would prefer, you can cut out the individual hand/footprints and glue them to the larger piece of construction paper as shown.

Corn Painting

This activity is so much fun for kids! The corn creates a unique texture that makes for a great art piece.

Supplies:

• One ear of dried corn (or one per color)
• Washable Paint
• Disposable Plates, optional
• White Construction Paper

Instructions:

1. Add paint directly to paper, or fill a disposable plate
2. Roll the ear of corn through the paint

Fall Wreaths

Kids love to see their artwork displayed, so making wreaths allows them to be part of the festive holiday by having something to easily put on their bedroom door (or wherever). I’ve seen this done several ways, but I will provide instructions for what we did here.

Supplies:

• Paper Plate
• Wet Glue
• Die cut or felt/fabric leaves (I got these at Dollar Tree)
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Cut out center of paper plate
2. Glue leaves onto outer rim of paper plate, pressing firmly

Gratefulness Board

Excuse the terrible photo and my inability to draw… I did this activity with the girls I used to homeschool. During our circle time, we created a board of things we are thankful for.

Supplies:

• Any type of board (whiteboard, chalkboard, poster board…)
• Markers

Instructions:

1. Somewhere on the board, write WE ARE THANKFUL FOR…
2. Write or draw what you are thankful for all over the board

Football Season Painting

Okay, okay, I know a craft surrounding football isn’t exactly a Thanksgiving craft, but let’s be honest, fall is football season here in Colorado. We painted using our team colors to honor our Broncos, and you can do the same.

Supplies:

• Paint (choosing colors that represent your favorite football team)
• Paintbrush
• White construction paper

Instructions:

1. Paint!