5 Thanksgiving Themed Art Activities for Preschoolers

Gratitude. Family. Quality time.

This is what makes Thanksgiving special. Take advantage of the time together at the beginning of the holiday season to get creative with your little ones! Here are some fun and festive Thanksgiving themed art activities that your kids will love doing with you.

1. Collage Turkeys

Use up your extra art supplies and create a colorful and unique turkey. Provide your child with a variety of materials, such as feathers, construction paper, glue, magazines, and markers. Let them create their own turkey by cutting, tearing, and gluing the materials onto a piece of paper to make a Thanksgiving scene.

2. Hand-Painted Turkeys

A quintessential Thanksgiving activity for kiddos! For a messy but fun time, paint your child’s palm brown to be the body of a turkey and fingers different colors to be the feathers. Press their hand onto paper and have them draw a beak, wattle, feet, wings, and a background.

3. Leaf Rubbings

Take a walk outside and gather a few choice fallen leaves. Place a leaf, textured side up, on your table. Lay your paper on top of the leaf. Using a crayon or colored pencil, gently rub over the paper and leaf. The leaf's unique texture will be transferred onto the paper, creating a beautiful natural design. Add a personal touch with additional colors, rubbings, or patterns to make your artwork one-of-a-kind.

4. Pumpkin Decorating

Pumpkins are a staple of Thanksgiving, so why not let your child decorate their own? First, have fun choosing pumpkins of different shapes and sizes. Then, your kid can get creative with paint, stickers, ribbons, stamps, stick-on gems, sequins, fabric… anything that you can stick with glue!Then proudly display their unique pumpkin design, no carving knives needed!

5. Apple Stamps and Patterns

Another seasonal childhood art project that endures across generations! Cut an apple in half and dip it into paint. Stamp the apple onto a large sheet of paper to create festive designs. If your child has done this activity before, consider changing it up with these ideas.

• Cut the apple crosswise and lengthwise ways to create different stamps.
• Use multiple colors to create patterns. Encourage your child to create more complex patterns with more colors.
• Try stamping with other fruits and vegetables, like pears, citrus fruits, the stump of celery, pepper halves, and cucumbers.