25+ Fun Thanksgiving Turkey Activities for Kids
Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy… yumm!!! All these delicious foods can only mean one thing- Thanksgiving is coming! My children are always so excited in the days and weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. One thing I have found as a parent and a teacher is that harnessing that excitement and using it towards fun and interactive learning activities is the best way to keep kids engaged and learning even during the holiday season! Even if you aren’t getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, but are working on learning about birds, farm animals, or you just really love turkeys – these activities will be perfect for you too. Check out all of our favorite turkey activities for math, literacy, STEM, arts and crafts, fine motor skills, and sensory below and learn How To Create A Fun Thanksgiving Turkey Theme!
The last thing you need while you’re trying to get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday is activities that take forever to prepare and lots of materials to gather. That’s one of the many reasons you are going to LOVE these activities! They are low- prep and require very few materials (most of which you probably already have in your craft supply stash)! Speaking of low-prep, be sure to check out all of our amazing low-prep preschool activities at Life Over Cs!
And, if doing these super fun activities makes your kids work up an appetite (I know mine are always begging for a snack at all times of the day!) check out these Easy, Yummy Thanksgiving Turkey Snacks for Kids!
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Why Should I Use Turkey Themed Activities?
Turkey themed activities are perfect to use in the months leading up to Thanksgiving! You can also use them with a farm or forest themed unit, or in a unit about birds! Since turkeys have so many fun and distinct characteristics about them, you can easily use them to teach about being unique and use them to celebrate differences.
Reasons to Use Turkey Themed Activities:
There are so many benefits to using turkey themed activities with kids! No matter if it is Thanksgiving, or another fun unit you are teaching, there are so many ways that your children will benefit from them.
Emotional Development: Thanksgiving is a holiday centered around being grateful for our friends, family, and what we have. By using Thanksgiving Turkey Themed Activities with preschoolers, we can continue to focus on the important themes of thanksgiving and help our children emotionally develop.
Language Skills: Doing crafts, reading stories, and playing games are all wonderful for vocabulary development and working on language skills with children. Even if your child is just listening to you talk, read, and give instructions, you are still modeling language skills for them, and this is great for them to hear! If you are using a turkey unit in addition to learning about Thanksgiving, you can continue to talk about what their favorite part of thanksgiving was and what they love most about their family and friends.
Celebrating Differences: In a classroom full of children, there will be many different traditions and ways that people celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. This is the perfect way to teach children that we are all different, but that we can respect one another and the different ways we may celebrate a holiday. Even if you’re not using turkeys as part of a Thanksgiving unit, there are still numerous opportunities to teach about turkeys and their different features, and use this to teach about how children are all different!
See our list below of our favorite turkey and thanksgiving themed activities!
25+ Turkey Themed Activities
Turkey Themed Art Activities
Colorful turkeys, fun feathers, and adorable harvest themed decor make for super cute Thanksgiving and turkey themed art and crafts activities. No matter if you need Thanksgiving Turkey themed activities for a unit in your classroom, or just some adorable turkey art and craft projects to keep your kids busy at home while you prepare for the big Thanksgiving meal, these projects will be perfect for you. They are all simple to follow with a minimal amount of supplies! Get ready to make some fun turkey crafts! (And if you’re like me and can’t get enough of art projects and crafts- be sure to check out our 25+ Easy Thanksgiving Turkey Crafts for Kids!!)
1. Easy Leaf Turkey Craft for Preschool
We love creating turkeys out of all sorts of materials in my house! Hand print turkeys and feather turkeys are two of our favorites, but in the fall when we have tons of fake leaves for crafting, we love to create leaf turkeys too! This Easy Leaf Turkey Craft for Preschool is so simple to make, and you will love watching as your child puts their own unique touch on their turkey!
2. Fun Clay Pot and Felt Turkey Craft for Kids
This Fun Clay Pot and Felt Turkey Craft for Kids is such a cute craft and will make a great decoration for Thanksgiving in your home! Your child may need a little extra help with this one, but trust me, it will be worth it and you will love showing off the final product!
3. Salt Painted Turkey Fine Motor Activity
Salt painting is one of my favorite art projects. This Salt Painted Turkey Fine Motor Activity puts a super fun twist on normal painting projects and is so easy to do! Your child will watch in amazement as the salt soaks up the paint and creates a beautiful rainbow of colors on their turkey!
4. Handprint Turkey Puppet Craft
Making puppets is such a great way to not only make adorable artwork, but also create something that your kids can actually use and play with afterwards! When you make this Handprint Turkey Puppet Craft, you are creating a work of art that you can use for a sensory bin, dramatic play, story-telling, or another fun activity!
5. Thankful Turkey Toilet Paper Roll Craft
All November long in my classroom we love to talk about the things we are thankful for! I love to create thankful turkeys with my students and then send them home for their families to read all about what their children are thankful for. This Thankful Turkey Toilet Paper Roll Craft is a great way to recycle and reuse toilet paper rolls and show off all of the things that kids are thankful for this Thanksgiving!
More Turkey Themed Art Activities for Kids
- It’s so fun to use bubble wrap to create this Bubble Wrap Printed Turkey Craft for Kids.
- Paper Turkey Craft for Kids is another cute art project!
- Pattern Block Turkey Craft for Kids is an easy way to practice shapes and keep with the Thanksgiving turkey theme!
- Paper Plate Yarn Weaving Turkey Craft is not only adorable, but also great for fine motor skills!
- Kids will love this Thankful Turkey Kid Craft!
Turkey Themed Math Activities
Turkey themed math activities are the best! There is just something about a super cute turkey that makes everything more fun. Counting, number recognition, writing numbers, and one to one correspondence are all preschool math skills that you can practice with these activities. Hands-on, interactive math activities are a great way to keep your preschoolers engaged and excited about math this fall (or anytime of the year!)!
1. Thanksgiving Turkey Roll and Count Game for Kids
Roll and count games are not only super fun for kids, but they also practice so many skills in one activity. Roll a number, practice counting, write numbers, and work on one to one correspondence all in one activity- wow, sounds like a winner to me! Kids will love counting and adding feathers to their turkeys in this hands- on Thanksgiving Turkey Roll and Count Game for Kids!
2. Thanksgiving Turkey Greater Than Less Than Free Printable
Comparing numbers just got a lot more fun with this Thanksgiving Turkey Greater Than Less Than Free Printable! This activity practices comparing numbers in a fun and interactive way. Kids will love moving numbers to the mats and seeing what math comparison statements they can make on the cute turkey greater than/less than mats!
More Turkey Themed Math Activities
- Practice skip counting by 10s with this Turkey Math Printable.
- Try this Turkey Feather Math Thanksgiving Activity!
- Build numbers sense with this Build a Turkey Number Sense Math Activity.
- Kids will love practicing numbers and counting with ten frames using this Turkey Ten Frame Math Game.
- Get in some extra counting practice with Thanksgiving Counting Mats.
Turkey Themed Literacy Activities
You can easily build letter recognition skills, and letter sound knowledge with these turkey themed literacy activities! Word building mats, stamping activities, matching games, mazes, and sensory bins are just a few of the many options for exciting literacy activities. Pick one of these 25+ Thanksgiving Books for Kids to go along with any of our fun turkey themed literacy activities!
1. Free Printable Thanksgiving Turkey CVC Word Building Mat
Kids love stringing together the letters they have learned to make words! Once they start forming words, they won’t want to stop! A Free Printable Thanksgiving Turkey CVC Word Building Mat provides the perfect practice for little learners who have learned letter names and sounds and are ready to start reading words! Kids will love reading, building, and writing CVC words on these super cute Thanksgiving Turkey CVC Word Mats!
2. Free Printable Thanksgiving Alphabet Activity for Kids
Differentiating between uppercase and lowercase letters can be tricky when children are learning the letters of the alphabet. Lots of exposure and repetition with the letters can be very beneficial for little learners and this Free Printable Thanksgiving Alphabet Activity for Kids is an activity that will do just that! Preschoolers will love spinning and stamping their way to letter mastery in this fun activity!
More Turkey Themed Literacy Activities
- Turkey Feather Name Recognition Practice is the perfect way to work on letters and your child’s name.
- Pair a book and literacy activity together with this Pete the Cat Thanksgiving Activity.
- Sensory bins and CVC words go perfectly together in this CVC Sensory Table Match Up Activity.
- Thanksgiving Letter Mazes are a fun way to practice letters!
- This Thanksgiving Color By Letter activity makes for a colorful letter practice activity.
- Make a cute thanksgiving book with this Free Printable Thanksgiving Emergent Reader.
Turkey Themed STEM Activities
Turkey time is a great time for STEM learning activities! Feather explorations, building challenges, and science experiments are all amazing ways to keep kids entertained and engaged during a turkey themed unit of study. Check out some of our favorite STEM activities below!
1. The Feather Experiment: Learning About Wind
Turkey feathers make the perfect instrument for learning about the power of wind! Kids will love using feathers to investigate wind in The Feather Experiment: Learning About Wind. One of the best parts is you only need a few simple materials to do this activity! Check out just how simple it is to do below!
More Turkey Themed STEM Activities
- Learn and Explore with Feathers in this STEM Activity.
- How many feathers can you get to float in this Thanksgiving STEM Activity.
- All you need is index cards, tape, and a can for this Thanksgiving STEM Activity.
- Can your preschooler build a Structure Out Of Cranberries?
- Make a fun Thanksgiving Catapult!
- Build a Turkey Cage to keep your turkey safe.
- Turkey Balloon Rockets are so much fun!
Turkey Themed Sensory Activities
The sound of gobble gobble, the touch of the soft feathers, and the sight of colorful feathers are just a few of the many ways that a turkey can offer a sensory experience for little learners! There are also so many fun sensory bins, bags, bottles, and games that can be done with a turkey theme. I love sensory activities because they always keep my kids busy for an extended period of time, and there are so many amazing benefits for my children when they do them!
1. Free Printable Thanksgiving I Spy
What do you spy? A turkey, bread, stuffing, a pumpkin?? What will you find on this Free Printable Thanksgiving I Spy? Brightly colored pictures will grab the eye of little learners as they hunt, find, and count all the thanksgiving goodies in this I Spy Activity!
2. “Flip” Thanksgiving Printable I Spy Games for Kids
I Spy becomes even more fun in these “Flip” Thanksgiving Printable I Spy Games for Kids! Work on fine motor and visual discrimination skills with this fun, interactive I Spy game! You can even take this game a step further and use it for learning about beginning letter sounds, colors, shapes, and so much more! Check out all the amazing details of this activity linked below!
3. Easy Homemade Thanksgiving Sensory Bottle for Kids
Sensory bottles are one of my favorite sensory tools to use. They are fun and easy to make, once they are assembled they are mess free, and the contents always mesmerize small children! Glue, glitter, leaves, and any other fall decor you want to throw in make up this Easy Homemade Thanksgiving Sensory Bottle for Kids!
4. Easy DIY Turkey Squishy Bag Activity for Kids
Tiny hands will love exploring with their sense of touch with this Easy DIY Turkey Squishy Bag Activity for Kids! It is so much fun to arrange the feathers on the turkey in this activity, and it is wonderful for little hands to squish and feel the fun texture of the hair gel while doing this activity. One of the best parts of this activity is that you don’t have to worry about your child putting any of the pieces in their mouth since everything is contained in the bag!
More Turkey Themed Sensory Activities
- Build kinetic sand turkeys!
- This Build A Turkey Quiet Time Activity is great if you have a child who needs a calm, quiet activity to do.
- This Thanksgiving Gratitude Turkey Sensory Bin is so fun!
- Make a Sensory Bin with Corn Kernels.
- Here is an Adorable Pie Sensory Bin for Thanksgiving.
- Songs make for a great auditory sensory experience! Check out these Thanksgiving Songs and Poems.
Turkey Themed Fine Motor Skills Activities
Fine motor skills are incredibly important for preschoolers, and they are so easy to work on! Tying shoes, writing letters, and zipping up jackets are just a few of the many things children do on a daily basis that require fine motor skills to be strong. Playing with play dough, lacing, beading, and painting with non-conventional tools are all excellent ways to help littler learners strengthen their hand and finger muscles. Check out some of our favorite turkey theme fine motor skill activities below that I’m sure you’re going to love just as much as my kids!
1. Free Play Dough Printable for Thanksgiving
Play dough is always at the top of my list when it comes to fine motor skill activities! There is just something so fun for kids about smashing, squishing, and forming play dough into different shapes. It is also something that requires very few materials and can be cleaned up super quickly. This Free Play Dough Printable for Thanksgiving is a great addition to any play time you are having with play dough. You will not only be helping fine motor skills, but you will help spark your child’s creativity and help bring their imagination to life!
More Turkey Themed Motor Skills Activities
- This Turkey Baster Relay is a fun way to work on fine motor skills.
- Work on fine motor skills with these Thanksgiving Scissor Skill Activities.
- Turkey Lacing is wonderful for fine motor skills.
- Try this Thanksgiving Fine Motor Skill Invitation to Play.
- This Fine Motor Turkey will be a hit with your preschoolers!
- This Build a Turkey activity has so much fine motor skill practice in it!
- Practice coloring, tracing, and q-tip painting with these Turkey Fine Motor Mats.
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