48 Thanksgiving Activities for a Meaningful Holiday

Thanksgiving is a holiday that’s all about giving thanks, building community, and coming together. Set aside time this November to engage students in Thanksgiving activities that are reflective, academic, and just plain fun. 

1. Thanksgiving Bingo

Bingo is always a winner. Use fall-colored bingo chips to cover the word. Play in a variety of ways with these Thanksgiving activities, including describing the word and having students cover it or say a synonym for the word that students cover. 

Try it: Thanksgiving Bingo Printables

2. Host Thanksgiving in the Woods

Read Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Alsdurf and host your own outdoor feast. Have students organize the feast, including deciding what to eat, assigning tasks, and planning Thanksgiving activities. The act of planning a community meal strengthens their executive-functioning skills as well as their sense of community. 

Buy it: Thanksgiving in the Woods

3. Find-a-word

How many words can you find in the word Thanksgiving. Start with the full holiday, and then branch out into other Thanksgiving words (e.g., abundance, companionship, drumstick). Give students a time limit for friendly competition in these Thanksgiving activities.  

Try it: Thanksgiving Words Printable

4. Thanksgiving trivia

How many American towns are named Turkey? What holiday takes place the day after Thanksgiving? See how much students know about Thanksgiving with a game of trivia. Use Kahoot or another online quiz platform to create a Thanksgiving game you can use again and again. 

Try it: Fun Thanksgiving Activities Trivia Questions and Thanksgiving Facts

5. Thanksgiving dinner math activity

Design your own ideal Thanksgiving dinner. Use paper plates and magazines and advertisements to create collages, or use the plate template and food options in our Thanksgiving printable bundle to incorporate math.

Learn more: My Dream Dinner Printable Math Activity

6. Thanksgiving math challenge

Print and post these Thanksgiving math problems around your classroom. Have students work together to solve one before they move on to the next. It’s like a multiple-course Thanksgiving meal but for math. 

Learn more: Thanksgiving Math Problems 

7. Thanksgiving Around the World comprehension activity

Read about how people celebrate Thanksgiving in different countries, then extend students’ learning by researching one country’s traditions around gratitude. When do they have their celebration? How do they celebrate? What foods do they eat?

Learn more: Printable Thanksgiving Comprehension Activity

8. Read and write Thanksgiving poetry

Start by reading Thanksgiving poetry, and then write your own on cute Thanksgiving stationery. 

Learn more: Thanksgiving Activities Writing Paper

9. Thanksgiving conversation-starter cards

Designed to spark meaningful discussions, these conversation cards feature a range of Thanksgiving-related topics for students to explore and share their thoughts on. You can even send these cards home for the holiday and have students use them to spark discussion at the dinner table.

Try it: Thanksgiving Conversation Starter Cards

10. Disguise a turkey

A turkey doesn’t want to get caught and eaten on Thanksgiving! Assign students to use their imaginations to disguise the turkey. When students have finished their disguises, have them write about their disguise. What is their turkey dressed up as and why? 

Try it: Turkey Disguise Printable

11. Watch a Thanksgiving movie

Pop some popcorn and watch a Thanksgiving movie. You can find classic and modern Thanksgiving movies about family, fun, and football at the link below.

Try it: Heartwarming Thanksgiving Movies 

12. Go on a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt

Create a scavenger hunt game for students to complete around school with clues like a yellow leaf, football, and a Thanksgiving bulletin board. Or have students complete the scavenger hunt at home and school with additional clues like a wishbone, slice of pie, and fall decorations. 

13. Write a Thanksgiving story

Use Thanksgiving writing paper to draw and write a Thanksgiving story. Some ideas for prompts:

• What would Thanksgiving be like if it were in August instead of November?
• Describe your favorite or least favorite Thanksgiving food. Go into detail!
• Imagine you have a pet turkey for a day. What would you do?
• Describe a special Thanksgiving memory.

Try it: Thanksgiving Activities Writing Paper and Thanksgiving Writing Prompts Inspired by Children’s Literature 

14. Thanksgiving build-a-word

Students will create new words using letters from the word “Thanksgiving” in these engaging Thanksgiving activities. This worksheet encourages creativity and literacy skills as students build words. Try challenging your students by seeing who can think of the most words within a given time frame.

Try it: Thanksgiving Build-a-Word

15. Host a Thanksgiving open mic

Have students tell their best turkey and Thanksgiving jokes. Create a laugh-o’-meter to record how loud the laugh is after each joke.

Try it: 100+ Corny Thanksgiving Jokes

16. Create a place-value turkey

Have students turn their hands into a place-value turkey, and then roll a di to create numbers in the hundreds, tens, and ones place value. Compare the numbers. Who had the largest number? Who had the smallest? 

Try it: A New Twist on the Hand Turkey 

17. Make a brown paper bag turkey

This is one of the Thanksgiving activities that never goes out of style. Stuff brown lunch bags with crumpled-up newspaper. Tie the top and then decorate with googly eyes, feathers, and other decorations as you see fit. 

Buy it: Feathers at Amazon

18. Gratitude Tree

The Gratitude Tree worksheet is a fun activity that encourages students to think about what they are grateful for. Students will decorate their tree with leaves of gratitude by filling in each leaf with something they’re grateful for, then glue their leaves onto their tree. This worksheet can also be incorporated into a lesson about Thanksgiving. Plus, the finished product will create a great bulletin board!

Try it: Gratitude Tree

19. Make an apple turkey

Another classic Thanksgiving activity. Give each student an apple, toothpicks, mini-marshmallows, and raisins. Students make turkey “feathers” with the mini-marshmallows and raisins on toothpicks, and then put the “feathers” on their turkey. 

20. Gratitude cards

These cards are easy to print and pass out to students. You can use the black-and-white version and allow students to color them in themselves, or you can print out the colored versions to save time. Then, challenge your students to find someone they’re thankful for and express their gratitude using one of their gratitude cards. This is a great way to acknowledge those around you that you’re grateful for and encourage your students to express themselves. 

Try it: Gratitude Cards

21. Create turkey glove puppets

Make a turkey puppet that you can use during read-alouds, in puppet shows, or as a fun take-home craft. Glue feathers onto the fingers of a brown glove. Then add a googly eye and an orange felt triangle beak to the thumb to finish the look. 

Buy it: Brown gloves and feathers at Amazon

22. Thanksgiving acrostic poems

These are a sweet and easy way to get students writing about thankfulness, gratitude, and family.

Try it: Thanksgiving acrostic poems

23. Play Thanksgiving categories

Write the ABCs and have students think of Thanksgiving words to go with each letter. A for acorn, B for basting, and so on. The students who come up with the most words win. 

24. Thanksgiving word scramble

With this worksheet, students will have fun unscrambling various Thanksgiving-themed words. This activity helps build vocabulary and provides a playful way to reinforce language skills. You can challenge your students by having them create their own words to unscramble and let them challenge a partner.

Try it: Thanksgiving Word Scramble

25. Create a gratitude chain

Give each student a strip of construction paper. Each student writes one thing they are thankful for. Then, create a paper chain by looping all the strips together. Add the Thanksgiving gratitude chain to a bulletin board or classroom decorations.  

26. Thankful writing prompt

Students will reflect on things they are grateful for this Thanksgiving season with this writing prompt worksheet. This activity engages students in applying previously taught writing skills while exploring the topic of gratitude.

Try it: Thankful Writing Prompt

27. Play a gratitude game

This game requires a set of pickup sticks. Drop the sticks on the ground and have students pick them up, one at a time. They say one thing they are thankful for depending on the color they pick up. 

• Red: Name someone you are thankful for.
• Yellow: Name something you are thankful for.  
• Green: Name a place you are thankful for. 
• Blue: Name a memory you are thankful for.

Buy it: Pickup Sticks at Amazon

28. Reflect with a gratitude jar

You can do this as a class or individually using a real jar or a free printable paper version. Have students write what they are thankful for, either one per student or 15 to 20 slips for one student. Then, fold the papers and put them into a gratitude jar. If you do this as a class, pull one paper out of the jar during morning meeting or at the end of the day to reflect on the things that you’re grateful for. Or have students take their jars home to share with their families. 

Try it: Gratitude Jar Printable

Buy it: Plastic Mason Jars

29. Design handprint turkeys

Get yellow, red, brown, red, and orange paint and have students dip their fingers and hands in paint so that when they press their hand down, it makes a turkey. 

30. Run in a turkey trot

Find a turkey trot in your area to run or walk in, or create your own course around your playground or even a turkey obstacle course in the gym. If you’re hosting your own turkey trot, design medals and a playlist of music for the starting line.

31. Play Thanksgiving Pictionary

Use the list of Thanksgiving words, a whiteboard, and a marker for a game of Pictionary. Divide students into two teams. One person from each team chooses a word and draws it for their team to guess. If their team guesses the word correctly, they win a point. If not, the other team has a chance to guess and earn the point. 

Try it: Thanksgiving Word List

32. Create play dough turkeys

Put play dough, feathers, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners in a center and have students create their own play dough turkeys. 

33. Craft a gratitude turkey

Cut brown turkey bodies out of construction paper. Then cut different-colored feathers out of construction paper, write things that students are thankful for on the feathers, and decorate the turkey to create a turkey that’s full of gratitude.

34. Thanksgiving word search

With three levels (easy, medium, hard), your students will love being detectives and finding the Thanksgiving-themed words in these word search puzzles.

Try it: Thanksgiving Word Search

35. Volunteer

Service and giving back is a part of Thanksgiving. Research and choose a volunteer project to do around Thanksgiving. 

Try it: Ideas for Volunteering With Kids in Every State

36. Create a class cookbook

Have students bring in recipes that they like to make and eat on or around Thanksgiving and create a class cookbook. Send the cookbook home with students so they can try out each others’ recipes. 

37. Thanksgiving coloring pages

This bundle of coloring pages is a great way to keep your early finishers engaged or provide a quick brain-break activity during the busy holiday season.

Try it: Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

38. Create your own parade

Use balloons and papier-mâché to create and decorate “balloons” or make paper Thanksgiving Day balloons to hang on a bulletin board. Even better, blow up actual balloons and decorate them to create a mini-parade. 

39. Make place mats

Take strips of construction paper and weave them into a place mat. Decorate it with stickers, notes, and Thanksgiving themes and colors. 

40. Make a turkey puppet

So cute! A great craft to make before you act out a silly story, or have students use their puppets to follow along with a new book they’re reading.

Buy it: Craft Foam 

41. Make Thanksgiving napkin holders

Cut toilet paper rolls into halves and decorate them as turkeys or leaves. Send each student home with a set for everyone who will be at their Thanksgiving dinner. Or decorate one per student and use them in your classroom Thanksgiving meal! 

42. Design a pop-up turkey card

Make this cute, easy pop-up turkey card with older elementary students. The craft is a fun take-home activity and reinforces following directions and fine motor skills. 

Buy it: Construction Paper

43. Play a Thanksgiving dice game

Create Thanksgiving dice using blank foam dice. Write six prompts and attach one prompt to each side of the dice. Then have students roll the dice and respond to the prompt on top. Some ideas for prompts:

• A place you are thankful for
• A memory that makes you feel happy
• A person you are grateful for
• Your favorite food to eat on Thanksgiving
• Your favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving 
• Something you are excited about 

Buy it: Foam Dice

44. Ride in a Thanksgiving bike parade

Decorate bikes, trikes, and scooters for Thanksgiving and have a class or school parade. 

45. Pass the turkey

Like hot potato, pass a turkey (could be a stuffed animal, could be a paper turkey) around in a circle. When the music stops, the student holding the turkey has to say what they are thankful for or what they are excited about over Thanksgiving. 

Buy it: Turkey Plushie

46. Play Thanksgiving Would You Rather?

Would you rather? but for Thanksgiving. Have students answer, would you rather:

• Eat turkey or duck on Thanksgiving?
• Be in a parade or be a commentator at a parade?
• Play football or watch football?
• Eat stuffing or eat cranberry sauce?
• Eat pumpkin pie or apple pie?
• Eat dinner early or late?
• Have a Thanksgiving meal with only your favorite dish or with everything but your favorite dish?
• Always smell like turkey or always smell like gravy?

47. Match turkey feathers

Like Pin the Tail on the Donkey but with turkeys. Put a large turkey body on the wall and make feathers out of construction paper. Students put the feathers on the turkey blindfolded or not, depending on their age. 

48. Compete in a Thanksgiving obstacle course

Create an Thanksgiving obstacle course with classic games. Have students hop in potato sacks, run with a football, toss the football, and march in a parade back to start. 

Want more articles like this about Thanksgiving activities? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, if you loved our Thanksgiving activities article, check out Meaningful Gratitude Activities for Kids.