Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays outside of the classroom, so I love getting to celebrate it with my students as well. I enjoy it because it is one that isn’t super chaotic, and also allows for teaching about some important concepts, such as gratitude and friendship.
And there are so many fun ways that you can celebrate Thanksgiving with your students!
Turkey Crafts
Turkey Painting
This turkey painting activity is so easy and students love it because they get to use paint! It’s also great for fine motor practice. Students get a plain white paper plate and use a q-tip to dab paint all over the plate. I like to use fall colors like brown, red, orange, and yellow, but you can use any colors of paint. Then, they cut out a turkey head and triangle beak (I just free hand these). Once the paint is dry, they glue the head beak, and some googly eyes on.
Turkey Directed Drawing
I love doing directed drawings in kindergarten, and these turkeys are one of my top favorites from the year. They always turn out SO cute! And surprisingly, this one is actually fairly easy for students to draw.
Whenever I do directed drawings with my class, I always have them draw in pencil first, in case they make mistakes. Then, they color the picture. Finally, I have them trace over their draw with black marker so it stands out more when we hang them up.
Pumpkin Pie In A Cup
Pumpkin pie is a staple at Thanksgiving, but would obviously not be simple to make in the classroom. Which is why we have…Pumpkin Pie In A Cup! All you need to make this yummy treat is graham crackers, vanilla pudding, pumpkin pie mix, whipped cream, and cinnamon. Students get to make it themselves and you can also tie in tons of academic activities, such as sequencing, writing, and math.
Thankful Placemats
Of course, Thanksgiving is also about taking time to think of things we are thankful for. This can be a difficult concept for kindergarteners to understand. So, we make these adorable thankful placemats. First, we discuss things that we might be thankful for, such as our family and friends, our house, food, and even our toys. Then, students get to draw those things on their placemat.
Friendship Feast
Every year on our last day before Thanksgiving break, we always have a Friendship Feast. I line up all the tables and cover them with a tablecloth (butcher paper). I also put out their Thankful Placemats to make it look more like a Thanksgiving table. Some students don’t get the chance to gather with their family on Thanksgiving, so it’s fun to give them all that experience at school.
When it comes to the food for the feast, I’ve done it lots of different ways. Sometimes, I’ve had each of the students families sign up to bring things in (I’ve done Thanksgiving food and just typical kid foods before). Or other years, I’ve put some popcorn in brown paper bags and twisted the end (to make it look like a turkey leg), got some juice boxes, and we ate our pumpkin pie in a cup.
Thanksgiving Read Alouds
It doesn’t matter what the holiday is, you can guarantee I will be including some holiday themed read alouds. Thanksgiving has some of the cutest stories. Some of my favorites include Turkey Trouble, Bear Says Thanks, and One Is A Feast For Mouse.
But, you can check out all of my favorite November read alouds!
Color By Codes
Color By Code activities are always a huge hit with my students. They are great for reviewing skills we have worked on, such as letters and numbers. I use them all the time as early finisher activities, morning work, and even in my writing center that students can visit during free play time.
Other Thanksgiving Activities
Math the Room is a favorite math center! Students walk around the room to find the picture cards, they count how many, and then record their answer. There is also options for teen numbers, addition, and subtraction.
BINGO is the perfect activity for any holiday celebration in the classroom. Students always love playing BINGO and this would be great to do during friendship feast. You can even throw in some prizes.
My writing center stays up in my classroom all year long. I always have the same activities, so students know what to do independently. But, I change out the theme every few weeks.
I hope you were able to get some ideas to help celebrate Thanksgiving in your classroom!
