Looking for fun Thanksgiving art projects and simple Thanksgiving crafts for the kids to do this season? These Thanksgiving ideas are so fun and easy to include everyone in! We love simple projects that look amazing but don’t take a ton of time, supplies, or craftiness to do. Here you will find Thanksgiving crafts that are perfect for preschoolers and older kids too!
Why Do Art With Kids?
Children are naturally curious. They observe, explore, and imitate, trying to figure out how things work and how to control themselves and their environments. This freedom of exploration helps children form connections in their brains, it helps them learn—and it’s also fun!
Art and crafts are a natural activity to support this essential interaction with the world. Kids need the freedom to explore and experiment creatively. Adding a seasonal theme such as Thanksgiving helps them explore and understand what Thanksgiving is all about!
Simple, easy Thanksgiving crafts allow toddlers to preschoolers to practice many valuable skills for life and learning. These include the aesthetic, scientific, interpersonal, and practical interactions that can be discovered through the senses, intellect, and emotions.
For elementary and middle school grades and older kids, art is fantastic for relaxation and a good outlet to express themselves through creativity. From process art to exploring famous artists, these Thanksgiving art activities are a valuable resource to have on hand!
Making and appreciating art involves emotional and mental faculties!
Creative work, whether making it, learning about it, or simply looking at it – offers a wide range of important experiences. In other words, it’s good for them!
Helpful Art Resources To Get You Started
Here are a few resources to help you introduce art more effectively to your kids or students and feel confident when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.
- Free Color Mixing Mini Pack
- Getting Started with Process Art
- Preschool Art Projects
- How To Set Up An Art Cart
- How to Make Paint
- Easy Painting Ideas For Kids
- Free Art Challenges
- What Are The 7 Elements Of Art?
- What is STEAM?
- STEAM Activities (Science + Art)
Easy Thanksgiving Art Projects, and Crafts Too!
You’ll find a variety of art techniques, famous artists, and more that have inspired the Thanksgiving art projects below. Many of the activities also have free printable templates and instructions.
SCARECROW TEMPLATE
Build a scarecrow with this free scarecrow template and simple scarecrow art activity idea!
BLACK GLUE PUMPKINS
Black glue is a cool art technique to explore with this Thanksgiving pumpkin craft. Make your own paint from black paint and glue.
BUBBLE WRAP PUMPKIN PRINTS
Bubble wrap is definitely more than just a squishy packing material that’s fun for kids to pop! Here we have used it to create fun and colorful pumpkin prints for Thanksgiving theme.
COFFEE FILTER TURKEYS
Here we have coffee filters and clothespins from the Dollar Store that transform into the cutest Thanksgiving Turkeys ever. And there’s even a little bit of Thanksgiving science involved!
ALSO CHECK OUT: STEAM Activities
COLOR BY NUMBER TURKEYS
Grab the crayons or colored pencils for this simple to set up Turkey color by numbers activity.
FIZZY PUMPKIN PAINTING
This fizzy pumpkin art activity is a fun way to dig into a bit of science and art all at the same time! Make your own baking soda paint and enjoy a fizzing chemical reaction with this Thanksgiving craft idea.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING BANNER
Check out this fun Thanksgiving banner that doubles as an easy Thanksgiving craft! Kids love coloring in, and then making their own DIY bunting for special occasions.
PAPER PLATER TURKEY
This easy paper plate turkey craft for kids is such a fun Thanksgiving craft! It’s simple enough to make with a large classroom full of kids, or at home too!
PAPER TURKEY CRAFT
Grab your scissors and craft paper as we have a fun paper turkey craft to share with you! It is a fun example of rubbings, one of the earliest forms of print making.
PICASSO TURKEY
Explore the fun side of the famous artist, Pablo Picasso this Thanksgiving by making Picasso inspired turkey art. An easy way to learn about abstract art for kids of all ages!
PILGRIM HAT
Learning about Thanksgiving will be fun for kids this year with this cute Thanksgiving Paper Cup Pilgrim Hat Craft!
POOL NOODLE TURKEY
Transform a dollar store pool noodle into cute turkeys, just in time for Thanksgiving! It’s the perfect side dish to your Thanksgiving lesson plans or weekend activity.
THANKSGIVING PAPER CRAFT
Explore the world of 3D art with a fun Thanksgiving theme craft complete with free printable templates and step by step instructions!
THANKSGIVING ZENTANGLE
Check out this fun Thanksgiving zentangle that doubles as an easy Thanksgiving craft for kids of all ages! Kids love coloring in and doodling for special occasions. Learn how to zentangle with a free printable included for you to use!
ALSO CHECK OUT: Pumpkin Zentangle
TURKEY HAT
Make Thanksgiving fun this year with this adorable Turkey Hat craft for kids! It’s made using just construction paper and a glue stick and kids will love it!
TURKEY IN DISGUISE
Are you ready to disguise a turkey for Thanksgiving-themed fun? Not only do we have an awesome turkey in disguise idea to share with you but we also have a free disguise a turkey printable to help you get started!
More Fun Thanksgiving Ideas For Kids
We have tons more fun Thanksgiving activities for you to enjoy. Click on the links below for more ideas!
- Thanksgiving Worksheets – Over 100 pages of printable Thanksgiving activities, including STEM challenges, art and craft activities, puzzles, games and more.
- Thanksgiving STEM Activities – Science experiments, building activities, coding, and STEM challenges for kids to enjoy.
- STEMS-GIVING – Complete with a printable menu to download, this STEMs-Giving is all about hands-on learning with food science!
- Thanksgiving Activities For Preschoolers
- Thanksgiving Slime Recipes
Printable Thanksgiving Project Pack
STEMS-Giving Pack! A full menu of Thanksgiving dinner science activities, secret codes, and more!
What’s Included:
- STEMS-Giving! A feast of science and STEM with simple experiments and projects for home or classroom!
- Even More Thanksgiving theme STEM activities with printable sheets, instructions, and useful information all using easy-to-source materials and perfect for limited time needs. Includes a Thanksgiving theme engineering pack with fun, problem-based challenges for kids to solve!
- Got STEAM? Try a turkey in a disguise challenge with writing prompts and more! Also color by code turkeys in disguise!
- Try your hand at building shapes with cranberry structure challenge cards.
- Discover Thanksgiving brick-building challenges perfect for early finishers, quiet time, hands-on math, or family time.
