27 Thanksgiving Crafts for Toddlers: Easy, Adorable, and Educational Ideas Your Little Ones Will Love (2025 Guide)

6 days agoLast Updated: 11/10/2025

Smiling toddler making a paper turkey craft with colorful feathers for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the perfect season to celebrate creativity, gratitude, and togetherness—and what better way to do it than with Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers? Imagine your little one giggling while painting handprint turkeys, gluing colorful feathers, or making paper pumpkins that brighten up your dining table. These fun, mess-friendly projects not only keep tiny hands busy but also help teach patience, sharing, and thankfulness through play.

In this post, we’ll explore a delightful collection of easy Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers, from daycare-friendly activities to adorable Thanksgiving baby crafts perfect for even the tiniest artists. Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or teacher, you’ll find creative, age-appropriate projects using simple materials you likely already have at home.

Get ready to fill your November days with laughter, color, and heartwarming memories—all while creating keepsakes that celebrate the true spirit of the season.

🎨 Planning & Prep: What You’ll Need

Before diving into specific crafts, here’s a short checklist and tips to help everything go smoothly:

🧰 Basic Supplies to Stock

These are versatile supplies that serve many toddler crafts:

Construction paper (fall colors: red, orange, yellow, brown, green)
Washable glue sticks and white glue
Child-safe scissors (blunt tip)
Washable tempera or acrylic paints
Markers, crayons, and colored pencils
Cotton balls, pom-poms, felt scraps
Googly eyes, foam stickers, foam shapes
Pipe cleaners (chenille stems)
Popsicle sticks (craft sticks)
Paper plates, paper cups, or cardstock
Yarn, twine, or ribbon
Brown paper bags (for puppets, cutouts)
Stickers (leaves, fall shapes, turkeys)

By having a well-stocked “craft corner,” you can adapt many of the ideas below to what you already have.

🛒 Recommended Kits & Extras (Amazon Ideas)

To simplify prep, here are a few ready-made craft kits or extras you can order to supplement your stash:

A Turkey Craft Kit / Make-A-Turkey Kit (includes googly eyes, feathers, foam shapes)
Fall leaf sticker & foam packs for embellishments
Standing Tree of Thanks Craft Kit (comes with autumn leaves children can write blessings on)
Bulk Autumn/Fall craft sets (pumpkins, owls, scarecrows)

Using kits can save you prep time and reduce last-minute scrambling, especially when working with toddlers.

✅ Tips for Toddler Craft Success

Set up everything ahead of time (cut shapes, organize colors)
Use washable materials—mistakes are part of the fun
Limit the number of options at once (2–3 colors, 1 or 2 kinds of stickers)
Offer a small “inspiration sample” — show them a simple example

Use trays or muffin tins to hold glue, beads, etc., to minimize spills
Work at a low table or floor area where kids can move around
Be ready to join in, praise effort, and accept imperfect results

With that foundation, let’s explore 27 delightful, toddler-friendly Thanksgiving crafts, grouped by theme for easier navigation.

Handprint & Footprint Keepsakes

These classic crafts become treasured memories. You can adapt for infants, babies, and toddlers alike.

1. Handprint Turkey Card

Trace the child’s hand on colored paper. The palm becomes the turkey body; the fingers serve as colorful feathers.

Add a head (use a smaller cutout), googly eye, and a beak.
Optional: On each “feather finger,” write things you’re thankful for.

2. Footprint Pilgrim Hat / Corn

Paint the sole of the child’s foot with brown or yellow (for corn) and press onto cardstock.
Once dry, draw on corn kernels or a pilgrim hat top.
Great for babies or infants since feet are often easier than hands in tiny children.

3. Handprint Fall Tree

Let toddlers dip their palms in brown paint and stamp downward to form the trunk and branches.
Use thumbprints with red/orange/yellow paint to dot leaves all around.
You can add a few finger “falling leaves” near the base.

Turkey-Themed Crafts

Turkeys are iconic for Thanksgiving and perfect for toddler crafts.

4. Toilet Paper Roll Turkey

Use a toilet paper tube as the body.
Cut a semicircle from cardstock for tail feathers; decorate with markers or stickers.
Attach the tail to the roll, glue on googly eyes, and add a beak & wattle.

5. Paper Plate Turkey Face

Cut a paper plate in half as the face.
Use construction paper for the wattles and beak.
Let kids glue feathers or tissue paper behind as the plumage.

6. Puffy Paint Turkey Feathers

Mix shaving cream + glue + paint (non-toxic).
Let toddlers use their fingers or brushes to create fluffy feathers.
Goes great on cardstock cutouts of a turkey.

7. Popsicle Stick Turkey

Use 3–4 popsicle sticks vertically for the body.
Add a circle or oval for the head.
Fan out colorful sticks or paper behind as tail feathers.

Related Article: 45+ Creative Things to Make Out of Paper

Thankful & Gratitude Crafts

These crafts reinforce the spirit of Thanksgiving.

8. Tree of Thanks

Use a branch or paper “tree” silhouette.
Provide leaf cutouts; have children write or draw something they’re thankful for, then glue them around the tree.

9. Gratitude Chain Garland

Cut strips of paper.
Each toddler writes (or scribbles) a “thank you” message or draws something they love.

Link the strips to form a chain and hang around the room.

10. Thankful Feather Wreath

Cut out a wreath base from cardstock.
Provide feather-shaped cards; children write (or have you write beside them) things they’re grateful for.
Glue them around the wreath.

Sensory & Tactile Thanksgiving Crafts

These projects engage different senses—especially helpful for toddlers who love to touch and explore.

11. Sensory Turkey Bags

Fill a zip-lock bag with hair gel or slime, and drop in fall shapes (leaves, foam turkeys).
Seal securely. Kids press and move the shapes around.

12. Pumpkin Rice Sensory Jar

Fill a jar or container with colored rice (dyed orange).
Add small pumpkin shapes or fall items for them to scoop and sift.

13. Textured Leaf Collage

Let kids glue leaves, felt, fabric scraps, cotton balls onto a paper leaf outline.
They feel the textures, practice glueing, and build a rich autumn collage.

14. Apple Stamping Turkey Feathers

Cut an apple in half horizontally.
Dip in paint and stamp behind a turkey cutout as a “feather cluster.”

Baby, Infant & Tot-Friendly Crafts

For very young children (6 months to ~2 years), crafts must be simple, minimal mess, and safe.

15. Soft Felt Finger Puppets

Pre-cut felt turkey, pumpkin, or leaf shapes.
Let toddlers place and stick felt on a felt board or large felt background.

16. Q-Tip Painted Leaves

Provide Q-tips as “paintbrushes.”
Dip them into non-toxic paint and dot leaves on pre-cut shapes.

17. Edible Playdough Pumpkins

Make safe edible playdough (e.g. flour, applesauce).
Use cookie cutters to make pumpkin shapes; toddlers squish and decorate.

18. Clothespin Pilgrim or Turkey

Use large wooden clothespins.
Glue felt or paper shapes on them to resemble pilgrim hats or turkeys.
Toddlers can clip/unclip and fiddle with them.

Classroom & Daycare-Friendly Crafts

These ideas are suited for group settings and scales.

19. Pumpkin Decorating Station

Use mini faux pumpkins or paper pumpkin outlines.
Provide stickers, foam shapes, markers for each child to decorate.

20. Group Mural: “Our Fall Tree”

Tape a large paper tree trunk on a wall.
Each child contributes a leaf or a handprint in fall colors to fill it.

21. Turkey Mask Craft

Pre-cut mask base.
Provide feathers, markers, stickers for each child to decorate their turkey mask.
Punch holes and add yarn to wear.

22. Thanksgiving Collage Table

Provide magazines or printed fall images.
Let kids tear or cut and glue to create a group fall collage on large poster paper.

Fine Motor & Counting Crafts

These ideas combine creativity with skill-building.

23. Counting Feathers Game

Glue a turkey body on cardstock.
Provide 1–10 foam feathers.
Ask your toddler to glue the correct number of feathers on the turkey.

24. Bead & Pipe Cleaner Corn

Using pipe cleaners as stalks, let toddlers thread yellow/white beads as kernels.
Great for hand-eye coordination.

25. Leaf Lacing Cards

Punch holes around the perimeter of a leaf cutout.
Give yarn with a blunt needle for toddlers to “sew” around edges.

26. Fall Bracelets

Use stretchy cord.
Let toddlers string fall-colored beads and charms.
Wearable souvenirs of their crafting session.

Mixed Media & Display Crafts

These are crafts that become decorations you can keep or display.

27. Thanksgiving Window Suncatchers

Use contact paper sticky side out, tape to window.
Let toddlers press tissue paper bits, fall shapes, leaves into it.
Cover with another contact sheet for sealing.
Catch the sunlight and brighten a window.

📌 Tips for Running a Successful Session

Plan a staggered craft flow — have 2 or 3 options so kids who aren’t into one can choose another.

Limit craft duration — toddlers’ attention spans are short. 15–20 minutes is often enough.
Rotate messy vs. clean crafts — less messy ones after snack time.
Photograph the process — parents love to see the action shots.

Prepare examples — display one finished sample to spark ideas.

🍁 Final Thoughts,

Crafting with little ones during Thanksgiving isn’t just about cute decorations—it’s about making meaningful memories together. These Thanksgiving crafts for toddlers are easy to create, budget-friendly, and perfect for any setting—whether at home, daycare, or a cozy classroom corner. From handprint art to sensory Thanksgiving baby crafts, each project helps children express creativity while learning gratitude in simple, joyful ways.

So gather those glue sticks, colorful paper, and cheerful spirits—because every small craft can spark a big smile. Try one (or all!) of these November crafts for toddlers and enjoy a Thanksgiving filled with love, laughter, and creativity.

✨ Ready to begin? Let’s make this Thanksgiving the most heartwarming (and crafty!) one yet.

6 days agoLast Updated: 11/10/2025