Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday! What could be better than focusing on what we’re thankful for and sharing a feast with family and friends? I’ve gathered a few ideas for activities and Thanksgiving coloring pages to help students focus on the things they’re grateful for. And some of the activities are just plain fun! And check out this earlier blog post for more ideas!
Build a turkey without hand tracing
Everyone’s familiar with the typical turkey that students make by tracing their hands and using the fingers for the feathers and the thumbs for the heads. Why not change it up a bit this year and build a turkey instead?
Gather materials for your students. You’ll need 2 sheets of paper, liquid glue or scotch tape, markers or colored pencils, scissors, and a handful of dried leaves for each student. If you can take your students outside to gather their own leaves, that makes it even more fun!
Start by flattening out the leaves by spreading them out and placing a heavy book on top of them.
Now have your students cut out the body of the turkey by folding a sheet of paper in half and then cutting out two joined circles. One should be smaller than the other … it will look like a snowman when it’s cut out.
Students can now draw and color their turkey bodies. Use the smaller circle for the head.
Once they have their bodies ready, gather the flattened leaves and place them on a sheet of paper in a fan shape. Use glue or scotch tape to attach the stems to the paper.
Have them tape or glue their turkey bodies on top of the leaves. Now you have a Thanksgiving turkey that’s NOT made of hand tracings!
Calming Thanksgiving coloring pages
This fun Thanksgiving Coloring Pages Pack is perfect for early finishers or when you want a simple activity to slow students down! You can also collate the coloring pages into a workbook.
The pages contain Thanksgiving vocabulary, along with a picture that has been patterned-filled to create a ‘zen’ type coloring activity. When complete, students can write a sentence to include the vocabulary. Alternate pages contain symmetrical Thanksgiving images on a ‘helper’ grid, to complete, then color. Dotted throughout the coloring pack are some dot-to-dot and maze activities. Two shape jigsaw puzzles are also included.
This fun pack also contains an “I am thankful for … ” display. You can have students complete it individually or in small groups for a larger display.
You might also like my other Thanksgiving resources:
