Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved holidays by all ages. School-age children are either excited about the upcoming vacation or anticipating the Thanksgiving feast. Preschoolers, on the other hand, are learning about the holiday, and what it means to be thankful for everything good in their lives.
If you own a preschool or run a daycare, you may be looking for ways to get your students excited about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with family, enjoy a delicious meal, and give thanks for all of the blessings in our lives. And what better way to make Thanksgiving even more special than by including your preschooler in some of the fun?
Here are a few fun activities that will help them learn about this special holiday in a fun and engaging way.
1. Thanksgiving Crafts
Most preschoolers love doing craft projects, so why not make use of it? There are several simple crafts that will teach them about Thanksgiving while keeping them preoccupied and entertained. Here are a few of our favorites:
2. Pumpkin Collage
A pumpkin collage is an easy way to keep your students busy while they wait for the Thanksgiving feast or just need to burn off some energy. Purchase real pumpkins and let your students decorate them with glitter, glue, and other embellishments as they please. Once they’re done with their creations, you can place them on your dining table to add a festive touch to the room.
3. Handprint Turkey
A handprint turkey is another great craft project.
4. Give thanks. Spend time making a list of all of the things you’re thankful for as a family. You could write these down and put them on display, or simply talk about them together.
5. Make thank-you cards. Help your preschooler create a ‘Thank You’ card to send to someone they love; a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or anyone else who has made an impact on their life.
6. Make decorations. Whether you make a centerpiece for the table, some wall hangings, or some place mats for the table, there are plenty of ways to involve your preschooler in decorating for your Thanksgiving gathering.
7. Engage them in cooking and meal prep. Depending on their age and skill level, there are many ways you can include your little one in preparing Thanksgiving dinner. From helping peel vegetables and make homemade pumpkin pie filling to setting up the table and adding garnishes to finished dishes
8. Thanksgiving is one of the most enjoyable holidays for any preschooler. It brings together family, friends, and food. This holiday is bursting with fun things to do with your preschooler. Here are a few activities to keep them entertained this Thanksgiving.
9. Take advantage of the pumpkins that are available this time of year and create a fun craft. All you need is some construction paper and orange paint to get started. Cut out a pumpkin shape from the construction paper, have your child paint it orange, and let it dry. When it’s finished drying, add some green leaves on top and hang it up as decoration.
11. Pumpkin Pie Playdough
Who wouldn’t love getting their hands squishy while making something as delicious as Pumpkin Pie? Put your child in charge of helping you mix up the ingredients, letting them have fun while building their skills at the same time. If you don’t want to make playdough from scratch, there are plenty of recipes online for how to make this treat at home.
10. Trace your hand, cut it out, and turn it into a turkey. Use different colors to make the turkey’s feathers, or use orange for the beak and red for the wattle.15. Make a paper plate turkey: Trace your child’s hand on the paper plate and then draw a feather on each finger using different colors of construction paper. Decorate with googly eyes and a beak.
11. Do a Turkey Trot: To keep your kids active on Thanksgiving, try a Turkey Trot! The whole family can get involved, and it’s a great way to start off the holiday. Make sure you have a large enough space for your kids to run around, and then play music while they dance their hearts out. You can either award them with prizes or just let them enjoy the fun of running and dancing.
12. Make Thanksgiving Cards: For an easy and fun activity, have your children make Thanksgiving cards! All you need is paper, markers, crayons, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, stickers, glitter glue and some fun ideas from your child’s brain. Have your child decorate the card however they like and then write a special note inside for someone in their family.
13. Start a Tradition: Do you have any traditions that you do every Thanksgiving? Maybe you eat dinner at your grandma’s house or watch football with the family? Whatever you do every year that makes Thanksgiving special can be turned into an activity for kids! If you don’t have any traditions yet, why not start one this year? It could be as simple as everyone sitting down at the table together before dinner to say what they’re thankful for or watching.
14. Trace your child’s hand on brown construction paper and cut out the handprint to use as the “tree trunk.” Cut out several more handprints from green construction paper and glue them along the sides of the trunk to make branches.
15. Using leaves cut from orange, yellow, and brown construction paper, ask your child what they are thankful for and stick each leaf onto the tree branches in response to their answers. Be sure to give example answers first so that they understand what you’re looking for.
16. Hang up your family gratitude tree somewhere visible so that you can remember all of the many things you have to be thankful for throughout Thanksgiving.
17. Act Out The Story Of Thanksgiving
This activity will keep your preschooler engaged while also helping them learn vocabulary that relates to Thanksgiving, such as “pilgrim”