Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday! All the joys of family and good food without all the stress of gift-giving. It’s exciting for our students too … in fact, sometimes they get a little TOO excited and have a hard time focusing in school. That’s why quiet activities like coloring or easy crafts are great for this time of year. In this post you’ll find my fun Thanksgiving coloring resource as well as an easy craft activity to help calm down little bodies. You can find more ideas in this previous blog post.
Thanksgiving coloring pages with thankful display
This fun Thanksgiving Coloring Pages Pack is perfect for early finishers! You can collate the coloring pages to create a workbook. The pages contain Thanksgiving vocabulary, along with a picture which 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, along with two shape jigsaw puzzles.
The pack also contains a Thankful Tree Display. This can be completed as a worksheet activity – color and ink-saving copies are included – or as a larger display for pairs or small groups. The larger display tree is split over 4 pages to be cut out and displayed on bulletin boards or doors. ‘I am thankful for…’ display letters are included.
Here’s what’s included in the download:
- Workbook Cover
- Workbook with 30 coloring activities
- Shape Jigsaw Puzzles x 2
- Standard size thankful tree worksheet in color and ink-saving (with and without thanksgiving borders), plus leaves for writing
- Standard size thankful tree worksheet in color and ink-saving (with and without thanksgiving borders), plus leaves for cutting, writing and gluing
- Larger thankful tree for display, plus leaves for cutting, writing and gluing
- ‘I am thankful for’ Display Letters
This would be really nice as a completed book to take home!
Thanksgiving Place Mats
These place mats are a fun craft for kids and they’ll look great on the Thanksgiving dinner table! As a bonus, students will get some more practice with patterns and also fine motor skills.
Here’s how to make them:
You’ll need 2 pieces of large construction paper in autumn colors, scissors, and clear contact paper to preserve them – or you could also laminate them.
First, take one of the pieces of construction paper and fold it in half horizontally. Now, starting at the folded end make parallel cuts about an inch apart. Make sure to leave about an inch at the other edge of the paper as a border. The fun thing about this is that the lines don’t have to be straight … curvy or wavy lines work too.
Take the other piece of construction paper and cut it into horizontal strips, about 1 inch wide and 12 inches long. Students will weave the strips into the cut paper in an over and under pattern. When they’re done, finish off the place mats by laminating them or sealing them in clear contact paper.
Do you have an easy, calming Thanksgiving craft? Please share!
