15 Fun Thanksgiving Classroom Activities and Worksheets for K-3

Add Thanksgiving classroom activities to your primary lesson plans this November to spark gratitude and fun among students. These activities will help with math, literacy, science, SEL, writing, and more!

Thanksgiving Activities & Worksheets to Engage Students

Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner! And that means it’s a new opportunity for festive and educational fun. Fill your days leading up to the holidays with lessons, creative crafts, science experiments, and literacy activities that remind them to be thankful.

Below are fun Thanksgiving activities and worksheets to save you time and get kids excited for the holiday season. You’ll also find activities from the Thanksgiving Fun Pack with read-to-use, engaging resources for November!

Fun Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving & November

Giving Thanks – Gratitude Activities

Discuss what it means to be thankful and brainstorm ideas together as a class. Read books on gratitude so kids can see examples. Consider adding gratitude lessons to your lesson plans to remind students to be thankful for what they have. These activities will help them have a positive mindset about their classroom and home lives.

Try our Fall Social-Emotional Learning Resource, which includes gratitude discussion prompts and a gratitude calendar. The gratitude discussion prompts are simple to use during morning meetings or to create a discussion during dismissal. The gratitude calendar encourages students to write something they are grateful for each day related to a topic.

Turkey Directed Drawing

This Turkey Directed Drawing is a fun way to practice fine motor skills, discuss the letter T, and remind students about being grateful this time of year. Add this activity to lesson plans in the fall as we get closer to Thanksgiving. Students can create the turkeys, paint them, and display them on a fall bulletin board.

Thanksgiving Poem

Use a Thanksgiving poem to discuss rhyming words, CVC words, sight words, vocabulary, and more during November. Try adding a Poem of the Week throughout the school year for fun and learning. Each week has a different theme and can be used during morning meetings or literacy blocks.

Thanksgiving Books to Read in November

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet shows students the magic of the Thanksgiving Parade. Use this book to discuss the balloons they may have soon and tell them how the parade started.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey by Lucille Colandro: Find out what this old lady cooks when swallowing a turkey! The storyline is always hilarious, and kids like guessing what will happen at the end.

How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton: This hilarious story will get kids thinking about how they could catch a turkey. They will get plenty of unique ideas that will help them brainstorm.

The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wings: This story will excite students about their Thanksgiving feasts this year and remind them to be thankful for all they have.

Just a Special Thanksgiving by Mercer Mayer: Join Little Critter and friends as they encounter a turkey and learn about the season’s traditions.

“If I Was a Turkey” Writing Prompt & Header

Print this activity and use it to help students with their creative writing. The prompt will allow them to consider what they would do if they were turkeys. Kids will enjoy coming up with ideas, such as hiding from the farmer, strutting and gobbling, and creating a Thanksgiving escape plan.

Thanksgiving Vocabulary

This month is full of fun vocabulary words for kids. Use the vocabulary cards with pictures to discuss new terms and post them in a pocket chart. Then, kids can use them for their writing activities or journals. They will be proud to know how to spell big words!

Marshmallow Measurement Math Activity

Kids use marshmallows to measure objects on printable cards for this hands-on activity. They will count and track their findings using the marshmallow recording sheet. Add this fun activity to your math centers this fall!

Making Butter Activity

Did you know you can make butter simply by shaking some ingredients in a jar? Add this science experiment to your plans this fall, and let kids record their observations while they make butter. Afterward, they can share their creation with buns during Thanksgiving dinner.

Dancing Corn Science Experiment

In this experiment, kids add unpopped corn kernels to baking soda and observe what happens. They will write their hypothesis and observations during the process. Add this activity to your science plans to get a great reaction out of the kids.

Turkey Hat Craftivity

During November, let students make adorable crowns to wear that show everyone what they like to do for Thanksgiving. All students have different opinions, and this is a great way to let them share those thoughts. Once they are done, they can parade their adorable hats around the school or wear them while they eat pumpkin pie during a Thanksgiving feast.

“I’m So Thankful” Turkey Craftivity

This Thankful Turkeys activity is for anyone who loves a good turkey craft! It’s also a great way to get kids to express what they are thankful for this time of year. With simple prompts, students will add what they are grateful for to a turkey’s feathers and combine it with their writing.

Turkey Disguise Craft & Writing & Book Connection

Turkey Trouble is a classic Thanksgiving book about a turkey who doesn’t want to become dinner! He hides in a unique disguise, but will it be enough to save him? After reading this read-aloud and discussing ways for the turkey to hide from the farmer, have kids create their turkey disguise.

Classroom Thanksgiving Games

Have these quick and simple games ready to use at school or send home to play over Thanksgiving!

• Thanksgiving Would You Rather: Ask these silly questions during a morning meeting or to end the school day. They always start great conversations among the students.
• Fall Action Cards: If you need a quick brain break, pull out these cards to get kids moving for a few minutes before switching tasks.
• Thanksgiving Charades: One student at a time will act out the description on the card and see if their peers can guess what they are doing.

Thanksgiving Activity Fun Book

Print the Thanksgiving worksheets you choose and put them into an activity book for kids to complete over the holidays or at school. The book helps kids practice all sorts of skills. Use the daily pages as time fillers, fast finishers, or just for fun.

November is such a fun time for holiday fun! Add exciting Thanksgiving traditions to make your classroom celebration memorable! Talk with the kids about growing crops, how to harvest them, cooking meals, and enjoying fellowship with loved ones. Enjoy all of the resources, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Resources to Teach During November

Free Turkey Directed Drawing

Learn how to draw a turkey with the FREE Turkey Directed Drawing activity. Follow the step-by-step directions to create a turkey for the bulletin board. Send it home at the end of November so parents can decorate their walls and fridge during Thanksgiving break.

Click the image below to download your copy.

Thanksgiving Fun Pack

Try the Thanksgiving Fun Pack by Proud to be Primary with Thanksgiving lesson plans, instructions, and materials to complete many fun activities in this bundle. It includes math, literacy, writing, crafts, science, STEM, games, and more. Use the printables to fill time during November to celebrate Thanksgiving before students go on break or send home to enjoy!

More Thanksgiving & Gratitude Activities

teaching gratitude

fall-social-skills-activities

number sense turkey math

PIN for Later

Visited 1,651 times, 1 visit(s) today