19 Imaginative DIY Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids That Bring Joy!

 

🍁🦃 Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness, gratitude, and creating joyful memories with family and friends—but for the little ones, it’s not just about the delicious feast! 🥧👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 While the adults are busy roasting turkeys and whipping up pies, kids can dive into their own fun with hands-on, colorful crafts that spark imagination and fill your home with holiday charm. 🎨✨

Crafting offers kids a way to express themselves, feel involved in the celebration, and even contribute to the decor. Best of all? These creative activities keep them happily occupied while you finish up in the kitchen! 🍽️🎉

📌 Whether you’re hosting a full house or enjoying a quiet celebration, these 19 Thanksgiving-themed craft ideas are sure to add a festive and personal touch to your day. Each one is simple to set up, uses everyday materials, and is sure to bring big smiles and even bigger memories. Let’s dive into the fun!

1. ✋🦃 Thanksgiving Turkey Handprint Art

A holiday classic with heart! Trace those tiny hands onto construction paper to form the feathers of a charming turkey, then let your little one bring it to life with colors, glitter, googly eyes, and a beak.
🎨 Why it’s meaningful: Over the years, these handprint turkeys become sweet keepsakes showing how much your child has grown—perfect for scrapbooks or displaying every Thanksgiving! 🧡

2. 🌲🪶 Pinecone Turkeys

Bring the outdoors inside by turning pinecones into adorable turkey friends! With colorful paper feathers, a tiny beak, and googly eyes, each pinecone gets a playful personality.
🍂 Why kids love it: It combines a nature hunt with crafting fun, and once finished, these cuties make fantastic table or mantle decorations.

3. 🎩📜 Paper Plate Pilgrim Hats

Let your kiddos craft their own wearable history by transforming black paper plates into pilgrim hats. Add a yellow “buckle,” and voilà—instant holiday headwear!
👒 Double the fun: Not only are they fun to make, but they also give kids a costume to wear during dinner or playtime. Talk about festive flair!

4. 🌽🖌️ Corn Kernel Art

Create textured masterpieces using dried corn kernels! Outline a turkey, pumpkin, or cornucopia, then fill it in with colorful kernels using glue.
🌟 Sensory + seasonal: Kids love the crunchy texture and pop of color. It’s a great way to tie in the harvest theme and fine motor skills at once!

5. 🍂🎗️ Thanksgiving Garland

Snip out shapes like pumpkins, acorns, or fall leaves, color them with markers or crayons, then string them together to create a garland full of fall cheer.
🏡 Decor you’ll cherish: Hang across a doorway, along the mantel, or over the windows—kids will beam with pride seeing their artwork brighten the home!

6. 🍁🎨 Leaf Prints

Celebrate autumn’s beauty with leaf printing! Dip real leaves in paint and press onto paper to reveal detailed, colorful patterns.
🌈 Nature + art: It’s a creative, mess-friendly way to explore textures and colors while bringing the outdoors to your art table.

7. 🎃🕯️ Mason Jar Pumpkin Lanterns

Let kids paint mason jars orange and design their own jack-o’-lantern faces, then place LED candles inside for a warm, pumpkiny glow.
🧡 Safe + stunning: These lanterns transition beautifully from Halloween to Thanksgiving and make glowing centerpieces you’ll reuse year after year!

8. 🍽️✏️ DIY Thanksgiving Placemats

Turn the dinner table into a gallery! Give kids blank paper placemats and let them decorate with drawings of turkeys, fall leaves, or things they’re thankful for.
🖼️ Memory-making magic: Laminate the finished placemats to reuse next year, and enjoy their evolving artwork over time.

9. 🪶👑 Feather Headbands

Create festive feather headbands by cutting a strip of paper to fit around the head and gluing colorful paper feathers on top. Decorate with patterns, stickers, or gems.
🎉 Dressing up fun: These easy-to-make crowns are perfect for playtime, photo ops, or as wearable art at the dinner table!

10. 🧷🦃 Clothespin Turkeys

Decorate wooden clothespins with feathers, beaks, and googly eyes to craft cute turkey clips. Use them to hold name cards, hang art, or just clip around for fun!
🎯 Small craft, big charm: Kids will love spotting their clothespin turkeys clipped around the house or holding napkins and place cards at the table.

11. 🎃🔘 Button Pumpkins

Give the classic pumpkin a quirky makeover by filling a drawn or printed pumpkin outline with a rainbow of buttons! Little crafters sort, stack, and glue buttons of every size and shade, building a bumpy, 3‑D masterpiece.
👐 Skill Boost: Picking and placing each tiny button is a sneaky fine‑motor workout, while the click‑clack of buttons adds sensory fun. Tape the finished artwork to the fridge—or frame it for a gallery‑worthy pop of autumn color!

12. 👑🍁 Leaf Crown

Let kiddos rule the harvest with a regal crown made of real fall leaves! Cut a strip of sturdy paper to fit each head, then glue on bright maple, oak, or even glitter‑painted paper leaves in a dazzling, layered pattern.
📸 Memory Maker: Perfect for post‑craft selfies, family photos, or a mini “leaf king & queen” parade around the living room. It’s wearable art that celebrates nature’s own palette!

13. 🌞🪟 Fall Suncatchers

Turn windows into glowing works of art! Sandwich colorful tissue bits or pressed leaves between two sheets of clear contact paper, cut into leaf or pumpkin shapes, and hang with ribbon.
✨ Why Kids Love It: When sunlight streams through, the colors light up like stained glass—instant cozy vibes and lots of “ooooh” moments.

14. 🌳💛 Thankful Tree

Plant the seeds of gratitude by arranging bare twigs in a vase, then cut paper leaves for kids to write or draw what they’re thankful for. Hole‑punch and tie each leaf with string onto the branches.
🌟 Heartfelt Bonus: Watching the tree “bloom” with blessings is a beautiful visual reminder of the holiday’s true spirit—and a meaningful dinner‑table conversation starter.

15. 🛍️🎭 Paper Bag Puppets

Turn humble lunch bags into a whole Thanksgiving cast! Turkeys with flapping paper wings, pilgrims with buckled hats, or Native American characters with beaded collars—kids paint, glue, and then stage a hilarious puppet show.
🤣 Endless Storytime: Encourages imaginative play long after craft time ends—perfect for cousin collaborations and post‑pie entertainment.

16. 🪨🎨 Gratitude Rocks

Mix mindfulness and art by painting smooth river rocks in bright hues, then write a thankful word or doodle a heart on each. Scatter them on windowsills, tuck them into pockets, or place one at every dinner plate.
💖 Mindful Keepsake: Each rock is a tiny, tangible reminder to be grateful—kids love finding and gifting them to family members.

17. 🍂🌱 Pumpkin‑Seed Mosaic Art

Save those pumpkin seeds! Wash, dry, and tint them with food coloring or paint, then glue onto cardstock in swirling harvest patterns—turkeys, cornucopias, or abstract fall leaves.
👐 Tactile & Terrific: The crunchy seeds add texture, making the artwork pop, while kids explore pattern‑making and color mixing in a fresh medium.

18. 🍂🖼️ Nature Collage

Head outdoors for a mini scavenger hunt—collect leaves, twigs, acorns, and dried flowers. Back at the craft table, arrange findings on heavy paper to create leafy turkeys, pine‑needle forests, or twinkling acorn constellations.
🌳 Outdoor Connection: Blends fresh air with creativity, encouraging kids to see everyday nature as an art supply store!

19. 📚🖍️ Thanksgiving Coloring Book

Sometimes the simplest crafts are pure gold. Print a stack of turkey‑trotting, pie‑stacking, parade‑marching coloring pages and staple them into a personalized book. Add the child’s name on the cover for extra flair.
🧘 Calm & Creative: Perfect for winding down between high‑energy games or while waiting for the feast to finish. Completed pages double as instant fridge art or sweet keepsakes for relatives.

🧡 Wrap‑Up: Crafting Memories One Glue Stick at a Time

From button‑studded pumpkins to twinkling window suncatchers, these kid‑friendly crafts sprinkle your Thanksgiving with color, gratitude, and giggles. Each project turns simple supplies into heartfelt décor and unforgettable moments—so gather your glue, spread out the newspaper, and watch as little hands bring big holiday magic to life. Happy crafting, and have a wonderfully creative Thanksgiving! 🦃🍂🎨