A Thanksgiving theme at home is a fun and meaningful way to engage young children in the holiday spirit.

With simple activities like crafting and reading stories, kids can develop their creativity and fine motor skills. It’s also a chance to teach them about the values of Thanksgiving, such as gratitude, sharing, and spending time with family. By incorporating holiday traditions into your daily routine, you can spark conversations about thankfulness while enjoying quality family time.

Thanksgiving Theme Book List for Toddlers

Reading books on theme helps create background knowledge for children. I have compiled my favorite Thanksgiving themed picture books to read with your toddlers. Use this list at the library, click the icons to read a review on Goodreads or purchase on Amazon.

Thanksgiving Themed Activities

Here are easy and quick Thanksgiving themed toddler activities for busy moms and dads. You’ll find enough activity ideas to help you through a full week of Thanksgiving play.

Pine Cone Turkey

• Large pine cone
• Clay or play dough
• Feather
• Googly eyes
• Red paper
• White glue

Press a pinecone into a small ball of clay or play dough as a stand. Providing feathers or cut up colored paper to look like feathers, allow your child to stick the feathers in between the scales of the pinecone. If they do not stay sufficiently in place, you can drizzle glue in between the scales first and place the feathers into the glue. Once the pinecone is adorned with feather to resemble a turkey, have your child add googly eyes. Next add a red wattle to the top front to resemble a turkey face. Display your turkey pinecone on your Thanksgiving table for all to admire!

Feather Matching

• Brown box or a box covered in brown paper
• Colored feathers
• Colored markers to correspond with the colored feathers
• Something to poke holes in box (scissors or screwdriver, leather punch, skewer)

Using a brown box, poke holes all across the top. Next color a dot around each hole using a variety of colored markers. Finally, allow your child to stick the matching colored feather in the corresponding hole. For example, the blue feather goes in the hole with the blue dot. Continue until all holes are filled.

Coffee Filter Feathers

• White coffee filters
• Colored markers
• Newsprint
• Spray bottle with water
• Brown paper
• Outline of a turkey
• Scissors
• Glue

Lay out the coffee filters. Have your child add a variety of colors to the coffee filters using the markers. It will look best if they are random squiggles and not a drawing per se. Place the filters on newsprint and use a spray bottle to wet the filters. The colors will run together. Allow the filters to dry. Cut the dried and colorful coffee filters into feather shapes. Draw the outline of a turkey on the brown construction paper. Have your child decorate the turkey by gluing down the coffee filter feathers.

Feather Sorting

• A variety of feathers

There are so many ways to sort and so much to learn from sorting. Put out a variety of feathers–different colors and shapes. Let your child sort them by different attributes -size, color, etc. Another activity would be to count all the red feathers, all the yellow feathers, and so on. Or place the feathers on matching colored turkey shapes.

Fall Wreath

• Paper Plate
• Fall leaves
• Seasonal nature treasures (acorns, bark, berries, autumn flower petals, straw)

Cut the center out of a paper plate. Show your child how to paint on white glue. Glue on fall leaves, acorns and other seasonal treasures.

The Brave Baster

• Turkey Baster
• Two bowls
• Water

How brave are you, Mom? Set out two bowls one filled with water and one empty. Show your child how to use the turkey baster. Instruct them to move the water from one bowl to the other using the baster. This is an excellent fine motor skills activity. Not brave enough to do this? How about trying the baster in the bath tub where it won’t matter (as much) where the water ends up!

Thanksgiving Theme Media Links

Here are some toddler friendly links to YouTube videos about Thanksgiving. I know we all hesitate to purposefully put our toddlers in front of a screen, but it does happen. So, you may as well have some quality links to head to.

• Turkey Gobble Wobble with Elmo and Abby
• The Thanksgiving Song (Sesame Studios)
• Thanksgiving Freeze Dance – The Kiboomers
• The Thanksgiving Song – Circle Time for Kids – Mooseclumps 
• Thankful by The Juicebox Jukebox
• I’m Thankful – Super Simple Songs
• Dino-Thanksgiving by Lisa Wheeler

Adding a Thanksgiving theme to your home makes the holiday season extra special. It’s a fun and easy way for kids to enjoy the celebration while learning important lessons like gratitude and kindness. With simple, hands-on activities, your little ones can make memories and pick up valuable life skills—all while enjoying the cozy, festive vibe of the season.

---