The holiday season is almost here and amongst all the fun, Thanksgiving Day is one that surely offers plenty of creative scope to engage preschoolers! This presents a resourceful collection of Thanksgiving ideas for preschoolers. From delightful turkey crafts to joyful Thanksgiving games, this list has been lovingly curated keeping your little ones in mind.
Get ready with paper plates as they are about to turn into adorable turkeys. Yes, you got it right! We have included very popular and easy-to-make paper plate turkey craft which can decorate your house beautifully on the holiday. Don’t forget the fine motor turkey craft activity either; perfect for developing those tiny fingers while having some festive fun.
Here are some of the best Thanksgiving Ideas for Preschoolers –
1. Feather Hunt Game
As a fun Thanksgiving activity, you can arrange a feather hunt game for your preschoolers. Hide some artificial colorful feathers around the home or classroom and set toddlers on a mission to find them. This not only encourages active play but also hones their problem-solving skills. Make sure the hunt is safe with no unreachable place nor any dangerous spot approved.
2. Paper Plate Turkey Craft
One of the simplest yet enjoyable Thanksgiving crafts for kids includes creating turkeys using paper plates! All you need are paper plates, paint, colored construction paper, and glue along with optional googly eyes if available. Letting kids express their creativity through painting and decorating makes this an unforgettable Thanksgiving art experience.
3. Mayflower Boat Building
Linking history with arts-and-crafts is achievable through building Mini Mayflower boats using simple materials like popsicle sticks or small milk cartons available at home! Preschoolers would engage in role-playing as pilgrims while learning about this iconic ship from Thanksgiving’s historical backstory.
4. Waiter-for-a-Day Activity
Inculcate gratitude among preschoolers by letting them take turns serving mini Thanksgiving meals to one another during lunch hours at school or dinner time at home by setting up turkey-shaped bowls filled with finger foods that they can pass around themselves successfully making them feel involved in Thanksgiving dinner proceedings
5. Shape Turkey Craft
Another kid-friendly craft idea could be assembling shaped turkeys! Using assorted cut-outs of different shapes – circles for body & head, triangles for noses/beaks & feet, rectangles/ovals/strips for feathers – Kids can stick these onto sheets of construction paper forming outrageous and unique turkey figures-this enhances their shape-recognition abilities alongside spicing things up with thanks-giving themes!
6. Thankful Tree Crafty Morning
Foster positivity & gratitude by dedicating mornings to thankful tree crafting– children upon arriving in class/home each day will write what they’re thankful for on a leaf-shaped piece of construction paper and stick it to a larger tree-form cut out!
7. Pumpkin Play Dough
Homemade playdough with pumpkin-themed colors can suffice as engaging sensory playtime wherein kids can knead, mold, and shape their versions of pumpkins!
8. Footprint Turkey Art
By painting the bottoms of preschoolers’ feet with brown paint and pressing these onto sheets of white craft papers- cute footprint turkey crafts come alive! Glue googly eyes or color them in using markers alongside drawing beaks & feet making them look even more festive!
9. Coloring Pages Activity
Print some Thanksgiving coloring pages such as ‘Kids sharing a meal’, ‘Family around dinner table’ etc., and Encourage children to color within the lines thus impacting motor skills positively.
10. Gratitude Story Session
With traditional thanksgiving stories at your disposal, you may ask your preschoolers what they understand from each tale afterward imploring them to narrate specific instances when they felt thankful for someone/something, fostering feelings of gratitude right from the early years.
11. Pilgrim Hat Collage
A simple art project can involve creating a pilgrim hat collage. Allow the children to cut out shapes from black and white construction paper to make their hats, gluing them onto larger pieces of colored craft paper. Include colors like brown for buckles, potentially improving their fine motor skills while enhancing creativity.
12. Corn Cob Crafting
Use either real or toy corn cobs for this Thanksgiving craft session that helps youngsters observe and appreciate nature’s bounty! They can paint these in vivid hues or wrap them up with colorful ribbons leaving them excited about their harvest-based creations!
13. Turkey Trouble Game
Develop this engaging turkey game where each kid will act as a turkey trying to hide from the imaginary farmer by ducking under tables, behind curtains &, etc. It instills physical activity plus is quite entertaining inducing loads of giggles!
14. Sensory Bin Fill-up Challenge
Set up ‘Thanksgiving Sensory Bins’ by filling significant containers with themed items such as miniature pumpkins, faux leaves, acorns received from nature walks, plastic turkeys and teach kids through touch-experience about different textures plus names of Thanksgiving elements
15. Thanksgiving Placemat Making
Have preschoolers design placemats they can use during Thanksgiving dinner using craft papers & decorate them by writing things they are grateful for or simply drawing related symbols! This could serve as a cherished keepsake parents would admire reminding all year around the essence of gratitude that Thanksgiving brings.
