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The short answer: the best Thanksgiving crafts for a classroom use cheap supplies you already have (paper, glue, paper plates, crayons), can be finished in one lesson, and give every child a chance to write or say what they are thankful for. Handprint turkeys, thankful trees and paper plate turkeys are the classics for a reason.
I work in an elementary classroom, and these are the Thanksgiving crafts that actually run well with 25 children and one adult. Each one has a short supply list, and most work from kindergarten to fifth grade with small changes.
Stock up on these five and you can run almost every craft below (we earn a small commission if you buy, at no cost to you):
- Crayola construction paper bulk pack: warm fall colors for feathers, leaves and turkeys.
- Elmer’s disappearing purple glue sticks: goes on purple so children can see where they glued, dries clear.
- colorful craft feathers: instant turkey tails with no cutting.
- self adhesive googly eyes: peel and stick, so no glue mess.
- pipe cleaners: for legs, beaks and wreaths.
SaveFree printable
Free Thankful Turkey Craft
A no-prep Thanksgiving craft: color the turkey, write a thankful thought on each feather, and fan them out. PreK to Grade 2.
Free download. You will also get a couple of follow-up emails with classroom ideas. Unsubscribe anytime.
Need a calm table activity for your class feast? Our Thanksgiving Activity Placemats give every child a word search, a maze and a coloring page to work on while they eat.
Before you start: a 2 minute setup tip
Pre-cut the tricky shapes (turkey bodies, circles) during a quiet moment, and put each table’s supplies in one tray. Thanksgiving crafts go from chaos to calm when children are not waiting for the scissors.
Turkey crafts
1. Handprint turkey
SaveChildren trace their hand on brown paper for the body and add finger “feathers” in red, orange and yellow. Write the date and the child’s name on the back and families keep it for years.
You need: brown, red, orange and yellow construction paper, glue, googly eyes.
2. Thankful turkey with feather notes
SaveEach feather is a strip of paper where the child writes one thing they are thankful for. Display a whole flock on the classroom door.
You need: paper feathers, a brown circle body, glue. Our free Thankful Turkey craft below has every piece ready to print.
3. Paper plate turkey
SavePaint a paper plate brown, then glue colorful feathers or paper strips around the edge. Great for kindergarten and first grade fine motor practice.
You need: paper plates, brown paint, craft feathers, googly eyes.
4. Pinecone turkey
SaveCollect pinecones on a nature walk and tuck colorful feathers into the scales. A lovely tactile craft that doubles as a table decoration at home.
You need: pinecones, feathers, a small paper head, glue dots.
5. Turkey in disguise
SaveGive children a plain turkey outline and ask them to disguise it so it will not be eaten for dinner. It is hilarious, creative and becomes a brilliant writing prompt.
You need: a turkey outline, crayons, scraps, glitter (optional).
6. Toilet roll turkey
SaveA cardboard tube body, a fan of paper feathers and two googly eyes. It stands up on its own, which children love.
You need: cardboard tubes, paper, googly eyes, glue.
7. Pipe cleaner turkey
SaveBead a pipe cleaner tail and twist on a pom pom body. A quiet, focused craft that builds fine motor skills.
You need: pipe cleaners, pony beads, pom poms.
Thankful crafts
8. Thankful tree
SavePut up a bare paper tree and have every child add a leaf with something they are thankful for. It grows all month and becomes a beautiful class display.
You need: brown paper trunk, leaf templates in fall colors.
9. Gratitude paper chain
SaveEach link is a strip of paper with one thankful thought. Add a link every day in November and hang it across the classroom.
You need: paper strips in fall colors, glue sticks or a stapler.
10. Thankful handprint wreath
SaveTrace and cut lots of hands in fall colors and glue them in a circle. Each hand gets one word of thanks.
You need: paper plate ring, construction paper, glue.
11. Thankful pumpkin
SaveA paper pumpkin with a leaf for each child’s thankful words. Simpler than a turkey for the youngest children.
You need: orange paper, green leaves, crayons.
12. Gratitude jar
SaveChildren decorate a paper jar and fill it with paper “notes” of thanks. A calm writing craft for older grades.
You need: jar template, paper slips, markers.
From the Shinku shop
Your November door, done in an afternoon
The Thankful Turkeys Door Kit has 4 door titles in big bubble letters, 120 editable name tags and a giant collaborative turkey poster where every child colors one piece.
Paper and leaf crafts
13. Leaf rubbing art
SaveLay real leaves under paper and rub with the side of a crayon. Simple, magical and great for a science link.
You need: real leaves, thin paper, peeled crayons.
14. Torn paper corn
SaveTear yellow, orange and brown paper into small pieces and glue them onto a corn outline. It builds fine motor strength and looks wonderful.
You need: corn outline, torn paper scraps, glue.
15. Paper bag scarecrow
SaveTurn a brown lunch bag into a scarecrow with yarn hair and a paper hat. A fun puppet for a fall story.
You need: paper bags, yarn, paper scraps, googly eyes.
16. Accordion fold turkeys
SaveFold paper fans for the tail and glue them to a simple body. Older children can add patterns to every fold.
You need: construction paper, glue, markers.
17. Coffee filter leaves
SaveColor coffee filters with washable markers, spray with water and watch the colors run. Cut into leaf shapes and hang in the window.
You need: coffee filters, washable markers, a spray bottle.
Keepsakes families love
18. Thankful placemat
SaveChildren draw their family and write what they are thankful for, then you laminate it. It goes straight onto the Thanksgiving table.
You need: 11 x 17 paper, crayons, a laminator.
19. Handprint turkey card
SaveA folded card with a handprint turkey on the front and a message inside. A simple gift every family treasures.
You need: card stock, paint, markers.
20. Paper plate pie
SaveChildren decorate a paper plate as their favorite pie, then write a “recipe for a happy Thanksgiving”. Funny and full of personality.
You need: paper plates, crayons, paper strips.
21. Salt dough leaf ornament
SavePress leaves into salt dough, bake and paint. A keepsake that lasts long after November.
You need: flour, salt, water, leaves, paint.
Whole class displays
22. Class turkey door
SaveEvery child makes one feather and you build one giant turkey on the classroom door together. It is a lovely shared project before the break.
You need: a big brown body, one feather per child.
23. Thankful quilt
SaveEach child decorates one paper square. Put them together on the wall to make a class gratitude quilt.
You need: paper squares, crayons, a hole punch and yarn or tape.
24. Leaf garland
SaveString paper or real leaves on yarn and hang them across the classroom. Calm, simple and very pretty.
You need: paper leaves, yarn, a hole punch.
25. Mayflower boat
SaveFold or cut a simple paper boat with sails and add a short fact about the journey on each sail. A craft that links to social studies.
You need: brown and white paper, glue, markers.
How to run Thanksgiving crafts with a whole class
Pick one craft per lesson, show a finished example first, and have every table follow the same steps together. Keep glue sticks rather than liquid glue for the youngest children, and have a “finished early” job ready, like coloring a thankful leaf for the class tree. Ten minutes of cleanup time at the end saves your evening.
Classroom craft supplies on Amazon
Thanksgiving craft kits on Amazon
Keep reading
- 19 thankful bulletin board ideas for a grateful classroom
- 21 November bulletin board ideas: thankful turkeys and fall leaves
- 25 fall door decorations for the classroom
Frequently asked questions
Handprint turkeys, paper plate turkeys, thankful pumpkins and leaf rubbings work well because they use simple shapes, glue sticks and crayons and can be finished in one sitting.
Give each child a brown circle body and several paper feathers. They write or draw one thing they are thankful for on each feather, then glue the feathers behind the body and add eyes and a beak.
Turkey in disguise, a gratitude jar, accordion fold turkeys, salt dough leaf ornaments and a Mayflower boat with facts on the sails all challenge older children a little more.
Use construction paper, paper plates, paper bags and things from a nature walk like leaves and pinecones. Most of the crafts on this list need nothing more.
Most teachers start in early November and finish the week before Thanksgiving break, so the crafts can go home in time for the holiday.
About the author: Shinku Studio is written by someone who works in an elementary classroom every day. These are crafts I have run with real classes, with the supply lists kept as short as possible.
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