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Thanksgiving Family celebrations are a much anticipated time, especially when there are grandkids involved! We’ve gathered some of our favorite books, snacks, games and crafts to share with you. These Thanksgiving activities for kids are the perfect way to create some special memories throughout your day.
Thanksgiving Books:
This cute little turkey is all about giving thanks and being grateful, and also the importance of showing others your appreciation.
A Thanksgiving take on the classic Christmas poem. Sure to be a hit!
This story is inspired by the famous work of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as miserly Martha is reminded there is more to life than work and money.
Thanksgiving Joke Book for Kids (6-12)
What a great way to connect with your grands! Tell a few jokes, or hand your readers the book so they can tell them on their own. Great for drive time, FaceTime, or waiting for dinnertime!
Thanksgiving Snacks:
Cornucopias
Here’s a super quick and healthy snack or Thanksgiving Dinner appetizer! Pick up some small waffle cones, and fill them with grapes, apple slices, and orange wedges. If your crew is more into salty & crunchy snacks, substitute the fruit for pretzels and fish crackers. Yum!
Homemade Cinnamon Apple Chips
We are a family of apple farmers and just love this snack. We think your grandkids will enjoy it too! Plus you can get going on other activities while these bake.
Here’s how we make them:
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice & core your apples to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. We like to use Honeycrisp, Gala, or McIntosh apples.
- Toss them in cinnamon and sugar.
- Lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, or a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 2-3 hours until the apples become soft. If you prefer them crispier, just bake a little longer. The thinner the slices, the quicker they crisp.
Harvest Snack Mix
For a quick movie or game time snack for kids and grownups mix up a batch of this sweet and salty snack mix. (Just a reminder, popcorn is not for kids under 4, and always consult with guests regarding allergies.).
Thanksgiving Games
Looking for a fun game to play around the table that spans the ages? You can’t go wrong with these favorites!
Thanksgiving Bingo
BINGO is almost guaranteed to be a win with kids of any age, every time! We love to play because it’s a great family friendly game that is fairly easy to play virtually and with large groups. Simply mail the game boards ahead of time or try sending a photo of the game board for them to print at home (if an option).
For this adorable little game from Busy Toddler, you’ll need lots of small pom poms, an empty plastic bottle decorated like a turkey (or similar appropriate container), and a pair of tongs. Your little ones will spend a LOT of time using the tongs to ‘feed’ the turkey pompoms. If you’ve got older kids, turn this into a Minute to Win It game. Whoever transfers the most pom poms in a minute wins!
Thanksgiving Turkey Crafts
We’re going to give you a couple ideas that will take you straight to two cute turkey crafts.
Turkey Collage
The first link (below) is a turkey collage, where kids get to use watercolors and paper towels to create some beautiful feathers for their turkeys.
Once they’ve created their turkey feathers, they will create the body of their turkey using a paper bag, and add some turkey eyes to complete the cutest turkeys ever!
It’s geared toward younger kids, but we think it is pretty great for all ages.
The site, Fantastic Fun and Learning, also has additional great ideas for Fall crafts. Check them all out!
Mess-Free Sensory Experience
I have a friend who just ‘does not do messy’. This craft is dedicated to her, and to all the kids who don’t want to get their hands ‘icky’ but also don’t want to miss out on the fun. This paint in a bag is the perfect solution!
This mess-free Thanksgiving Art Activity is a fun sensory experience.
It involves gallon ziploc bags, a sharpie, paint, and some painter’s tape to keep it all in place.
A Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun game and life lesson all in one.
It can be played both in person and virtually.
You could write the scavenger hunt items on paper, cut them apart, and take turns drawing ‘a card’ and responding to the prompt.
Sometimes gratefulness is easy to come by, but other times we might have to hunt for it a bit. This is a great truth to share with your grandkids, and, if you are at all like me, use it as a reminder for yourself!
Bonus Bundle
For even more thanksgiving activities for kids, including some great printables and last-minute ideas, we’ve got you covered!
Check out our free Thanksgiving Bonus Bundle! It includes a zoomsgiving invitation, word search, scattergories, and conversation starters.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We pray that these Thanksgiving activities for kids will bring to mind all the things we have to be grateful for, and that your memories will create some fabulous ‘leftovers’ you can enjoy over and over again!