Spending time with your kids is extra fun during the holidays. It’s a chance to make seasonal memories they’ll cherish during every holiday to come. Help your little ones have the best Thanksgiving yet with these activities they’ll love. You’ll fill your free afternoons while helping them learn more about themselves and the world around them.

1. Make Footprint and Bubble Paint Turkeys

Creating turkey crafts is a quintessential Thanksgiving tradition. While kids often make turkeys out of paper plates or pinecones at school, you can kick things up with a little bit of paint. Cover the bottom of their feet in washable paint and press them to construction paper. While they dry, blow dyed bubble soap onto another piece of construction paper. Cut feathers out of the bubble art and stick them to the footprints for clever turkeys to hang around your house.

2. Compile a Thanksgiving Sensory Bin 

Sensory activities show toddlers how to experience their senses while exploring the world. Get creative with a Thanksgiving sensory bin — they’ll love all the different textures they’ll find. Fill a small bowl with dried corn, miniature pinecones, stones, and beads. They can play with it while you’re with them or supervising them while making dinner.

This is also a great activity to keep in mind during the rest of the year. Summer sensory bins full of sand and shells are just as exciting to young kids. Help your little ones learn hand-eye coordination by bringing one out whenever they need something fun to do.

3. Create an Origami Pumpkin Patch

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner, have your toddler help decorate with cute origami pumpkins. The craft only takes two minutes and requires minimal folding to create the pumpkin shape. Your kids can then draw faces on each pumpkin and display them as part of your table centerpiece. They can also gather leaves, pinecones, and twigs from outside to arrange around the paper pumpkins to complete the autumnal look. 

4. Pin a Feather on a Turkey

Kids love nonsensical games, which is why pinning something to a big picture is always fun. Print a picture of a turkey, draw one, or use one from a coloring book. Cut feathers out of construction paper and add double-sided tape to the back of each one. Your little ones can wear a sleep mask over their eyes, spin around three times, and try to stick each feather in the right place. You could even throw in a prize, like an extra scoop of macaroni and cheese with dinner.

5. Hang a Paper Gratitude Chain

Thanksgiving is a time for children to learn what gratitude means. Although you might talk about it around the holiday dinner table, you can also teach your toddlers about it with a craft. Ask them a few prompts to learn what they’re thankful for and write their responses on rectangular pieces of paper. You can tape them together in links like a chain and hang them over your kitchen table. Your kids can even color each strip of paper to add their personality to this easy craft.

6. Bake a Thanksgiving Cake

Cakes aren’t just for birthdays. You could start a new Thanksgiving tradition with a box of cake mix and some icing. Make whatever flavors your kids love, then present them with toppings for decorations. They might enjoy pouring sprinkles all over the icing or sticking small images of toothpicks into the top layer. This Thanksgiving activity teaches children how to express themselves in the kitchen while showing them that hard work can come with a tasty reward.

7. Trace a Handprint Wreath

If you don’t want a turkey-themed craft for your kids, try making a handprint wreath together. Your toddlers only need to place their hands on cardboard paper while you trace the outlines. Invite them to color their handprints, write the latest words they learned, or draw whatever’s on their mind. Tape the hands together on the back to form the shape of a wreath. You could hang it from a string on your front door or anywhere else your home needs a pop of Thanksgiving fun.

Get Creative With Your Kids This Thanksgiving

Toddlers can participate in Thanksgiving activities to have more fun with their families during the holiday season. Think about what your kids might like to do most, like get creative in the kitchen or color paper pumpkins. No matter what interests them, you’ll help them make memories and develop new skills.