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The short answer: the best Thanksgiving door decorations for the classroom are big, simple and made with the class. Cover the door in one bold color, add one giant shape like a turkey, a pie or a cornucopia, then let every child add a feather, a leaf or a slice with something they are thankful for. It goes up in an afternoon and stays up all of November.
I work in an elementary classroom, and the November door is one of my favorite jobs of the year. It bridges the gap between Halloween and Christmas, it gives children a reason to write and talk about gratitude, and families stop to read it at pickup. Below are 25 ideas, from quick one-color doors to full class projects, each with a short supply list.
Stock up on these and you can make almost every door below (we earn a small commission if you buy, at no cost to you):
- Pacon Fadeless bulletin board paper: the color stays bright for the whole month, even on a sunny door.
- Crayola construction paper bulk pack: for feathers, leaves, pie slices and every child’s piece of the door.
- Carson Dellosa bulletin board letters: big, clean letters for your door title, reusable every season.
- Fall leaf garland: drape it around the frame for an instant fall border.
- Command strips: for doors and walls that will not take staples or tape.
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.
Before you start: a 2 minute setup tip
Cover the whole door with one color of bulletin board paper first and tape it on the back edges, not the front. Cut the big shape before the class arrives, then hand out the small pieces for children to write or draw on. Check your school rules on fire doors before adding anything, and keep the window and the handle clear.
Turkey doors
1. A giant friendly turkey
SaveTurn the whole door into one big turkey. A brown paper body in the middle, a fan of colorful feathers around it and a cheerful face near the top. It is the door children recognize from the end of the hallway.
You need: brown and orange bulletin board paper, construction paper for feathers, googly eyes or a paper face.
2. Thankful turkey feathers
SaveGive every child a paper feather to write or draw something they are thankful for, then add them to the turkey’s tail. The door fills up as the feathers come in, and children love finding their own.
You need: a paper turkey body and a set of paper turkey cutouts or hand-cut feathers.
Want it ready to print? Our Thankful Turkeys Door Kit has the big turkey, the letters and a feather for every child to write on, in US Letter and A4.
3. Handprint turkey feathers
SaveTrace each child’s hand on colored paper and cut it out. The fingers become the feathers, so a class of twenty-five makes a big, full tail. Little ones especially love this one.
You need: red, orange, yellow and brown construction paper, scissors, a marker for tracing.
4. A turkey in disguise
SaveMake a turkey who is hiding from Thanksgiving dinner by dressing up as something else, like a scarecrow, a superhero or a pumpkin. It is a great writing link, and children can design their own disguised turkeys to stick around it.
You need: a paper turkey, scraps of paper and fabric for the disguise, a few child-made turkeys.
5. Peeking turkey
SaveCut a turkey head and two feet and stick them to the edges of the door so it looks like a turkey is peeking around the corner. It is quick, funny and needs very little paper.
You need: construction paper in brown, red and orange, a few strips of tape.
6. A turkey family
SaveMake one big turkey for you and a small turkey for every child, each decorated their own way. Line them up across the door like a family walking to dinner.
You need: paper turkey cutouts or a turkey template, crayons, a long paper path.
Thankful doors
7. A thankful tree
SaveDraw or build a bare brown paper tree trunk with branches across the door. Children write what they are thankful for on paper leaves and add them through the month until the tree is full.
You need: brown bulletin board paper for the trunk, red, orange and yellow construction paper leaves.
8. Thankful leaves falling
SaveHang paper leaves on string from the top of the door frame so they look like they are falling. Each one carries a child’s thankful note or drawing, and they move a little every time the door opens.
You need: paper leaves, string or yarn, Command strips along the top of the frame.
9. A thankful paper chain
SaveEvery child writes one thing they are thankful for on a paper strip, and the class links them into a long chain that frames the door. Add a link each day in November and watch it grow.
You need: strips of construction paper in fall colors, glue sticks or a stapler.
10. Gratitude jars
SaveMake big paper jars on the door and fill them with paper hearts, stars or leaves, each with a thankful note. It is calm and pretty, and it works for any grade.
You need: light blue paper for the jars, colorful paper shapes, a marker.
Pumpkin pie and food doors
11. A giant pumpkin pie
SaveTurn the door into a whole pumpkin pie seen from above, with a crust border and a dollop of whipped cream on top. Each child gets a slice to write their thankful note on.
You need: orange and tan bulletin board paper, white paper for the cream, paper slices for the class.
12. A cornucopia overflowing
SaveA big paper horn of plenty spilling out paper pumpkins, apples, corn and leaves. Children make the produce, so everyone has something on the door.
You need: brown paper for the horn, construction paper for the produce, glue sticks.
13. A Thanksgiving table
SaveMake a long paper table across the lower half of the door with paper plates, a paper turkey and pies. Each plate holds one child’s drawing of their favorite Thanksgiving food.
You need: brown paper for the table, small paper plates, crayons.
Doing a Thanksgiving feast or party? Our Thanksgiving Activity Placemats keep children busy at the table with mazes, word searches and coloring, in color and ink saver.
14. Apple and pumpkin patch
SaveA row of paper pumpkins along the bottom of the door with curly vines and a few apples on a tree above. It works from late October right through Thanksgiving.
You need: orange and green construction paper, a brown trunk, green yarn for vines.
Fall leaf doors
15. A leaf wreath
SaveRing the door with a big circle of paper or real-looking leaves and put a simple message in the middle. It is pretty, calm and easy to keep up after Thanksgiving.
You need: a fall leaf garland or paper leaves, a cardboard ring.
16. Leaf rubbing door
SaveChildren make leaf rubbings with crayons on thin paper, then cut them out. Covered in real leaf textures, the door looks like a fall forest.
You need: real leaves, thin paper, crayons with the wrappers off.
17. Scarecrow and haystacks
SaveA friendly scarecrow on the door with paper haystacks at the bottom and a few crows on the frame. Add little paper pumpkins and it lasts through all of fall.
You need: construction paper, yellow paper strips for straw, a paper hat.
Doors with a learning link
18. Turkey counting door
SaveNumber every feather and let the youngest children count them each morning. Add a ten frame or a simple question like how many feathers are red. It is a math warm-up on the way in.
You need: numbered paper feathers, a paper turkey, a few colored dots.
19. Mayflower and sailing ship
SaveA paper ship on blue paper waves with sails made of children’s thankful notes. It is a good link to history lessons for older grades.
You need: brown paper for the ship, white paper sails, blue bulletin board paper.
20. Thanksgiving word door
SaveFill the door with big fall words children can read and spell all month: thankful, family, harvest, pumpkin, share. Use bold paper letters so it doubles as a word wall.
You need: bulletin board letters and a few paper leaves.
Quick and low-prep doors
21. One color and one shape
SaveNo time? Cover the door in deep orange, add one big paper turkey or pumpkin and a leaf border. It looks finished in twenty minutes.
You need: orange bulletin board paper, fall border trim, one big paper shape.
22. Fall border and a class photo frame
SaveFrame the door with a fall border and add a big paper picture frame in the center. Children draw self-portraits as pilgrims, turkeys or pies to fill it.
You need: fall border trim, a paper frame, crayons.
23. Paper plate turkeys
SaveEach child decorates a paper plate turkey and the plates fill the door in neat rows. It is the easiest whole-class craft and it makes a cheerful door.
You need: paper plates, construction paper feathers, glue sticks.
24. Turkey and pumpkin countdown
SaveNumber paper pumpkins from one to the number of school days left before Thanksgiving break and take one down each afternoon. Children ask to do it every day.
You need: small paper pumpkins, a marker, Command strips or tape.
25. A door that turns into Christmas
SavePlan a door that changes easily: a big leaf tree in November becomes a snowy tree in December with a few paper swaps. Keep the trunk and border and save yourself a whole afternoon.
You need: a reusable paper tree trunk, fall leaves now, paper snowflakes later.
How to put up a classroom door in one afternoon
Cover the door in your background color first and fold the paper around the edges so it stays flat. Add the border next, then the big shape in the middle. Hand out the small pieces, like feathers or leaves, during a writing or art block, and add them to the door as they are finished. Put the title on last so you know how much space you have left.
Making the door last until Thanksgiving
Use fadeless paper on any door that gets sun, and laminate the big shapes if you can. Glue small pieces down rather than taping them, because tape lifts in cold, dry hallways. Leave a little space for late pieces so a child who was absent can still add a feather.
Thanksgiving classroom door decorations on Amazon
Fall bulletin board supplies on Amazon
Keep reading
- 25 fall door decorations for the classroom
- Easy Thanksgiving crafts for the classroom
- 21 November bulletin board ideas
- 19 thankful bulletin board ideas
Frequently asked questions
Cover the door in one bold color, add one big shape like a turkey, a pumpkin pie or a cornucopia, then let every child add a small piece such as a feather or a leaf with something they are thankful for.
A one color door with a single big paper turkey or pumpkin and a fall border. It takes about twenty minutes and still looks finished.
Give each child a feather, leaf, pie slice or paper plate turkey to decorate or write on. When every child has a piece on the door, they feel proud of it and families stop to read it.
Most teachers swap from Halloween to Thanksgiving on November 1 and keep it up until the break. A fall leaf door can go up in late October and stay through the month.
Use painter’s tape or removable strips such as Command strips on the back edges of the paper, and check your school rules for fire doors before you start.
About the author: Shinku Studio is written by someone who works in an elementary classroom every day. These are doors that go up quickly with a real class, with the supply lists kept as short as possible.