30 Thanksgiving Activities for Kids (+ Free Printable Placemat & Bingo)

Thanksgiving is a long day for kids. There’s a lot of waiting, a lot of grown-up conversation and a dinner that always takes longer than planned. A few easy Thanksgiving activities for kids make the day calmer for everyone, and most of them need nothing more than paper, crayons and a little planning.

Below you’ll find 30 ideas sorted by when you need them: while dinner cooks, at the kids’ table, after the meal and in the car. There’s also a free printable placemat and table bingo card you can print tonight.

Free printable: Thanksgiving table fun

The easiest win is having something waiting at every seat. Our free Thanksgiving activity pack has two pages:

• A placemat with a word search of 10 Thanksgiving words, a “how many words can you make from THANKSGIVING” challenge, an “I’m thankful for…” list, two tic-tac-toe grids and an empty plate to draw your dream dinner on.
• Table bingo with 24 things to see or hear at dinner, like pumpkin pie, someone laughing out loud or someone saying “I’m full!”

Download the free Thanksgiving placemat and bingo in US Letter or A4. If you’re new to printables, our guide on how to print digital downloads covers paper and print settings.

Activities while dinner is cooking

The hours before the meal are the hardest. The kitchen is off-limits and the house is full of people. Give kids a job first, then an activity.

1. Set the table. Kids can lay out napkins, count forks and put a placemat at every seat. Being trusted with a real task matters to them.
2. Make place cards. Fold index cards in half and let kids write or decorate each guest’s name. Pre-readers can draw a picture for each person.
3. Fold napkins. Show one simple fold, like a triangle or a fan, and let them do the whole stack.
4. Leaf rubbings. Put a leaf under thin paper and rub over it with the side of a peeled crayon. It’s quick, and leaves from the yard are free.
5. Coloring time. A stack of coloring pages buys a quiet half hour. Coloring also builds hand strength, as we explain in our article on the benefits of coloring for kids.
6. Indoor scavenger hunt. Our free indoor scavenger hunt keeps kids moving without leaving the house.
7. Build a cardboard turkey. Trace hands on colored paper for feathers and glue them to a paper plate or cardboard circle.
8. Count and sort. Toddlers can sort dried pasta, buttons or mini pumpkins by size or color. Keep small items away from children under 3.

Kids’ table activities

A kids’ table works best when kids sit down to something already set up. Put crayons in a cup in the middle and something to do at every seat.

9. Activity placemats. The free printable placemat above is made for exactly this.
10. Table bingo. Kids mark what they see and hear during the meal. It keeps them paying attention to the table instead of drifting off.
11. Tablecloth doodles. Cover the kids’ table with brown kraft paper and let them draw on it all through dinner.
12. “Would you rather” cards. Write a few silly questions on slips of paper: “Would you rather eat pie for breakfast or pancakes for dinner?”
13. Gratitude jar. Each child writes or draws one thing they’re thankful for and drops it in a jar. Read them aloud at dessert.
14. I spy at the table. “I spy something orange” works for any age and needs no supplies.

Gratitude activities

Gratitude is the point of the day, but “say what you’re thankful for” can make kids freeze. Concrete activities work better.

15. Thankful leaves. Cut leaves from colored paper. Each person writes one thing they’re thankful for and tapes it to a window or a branch in a vase.
16. Interview a relative. Give kids three questions to ask a grandparent or older guest, such as “What was Thanksgiving like when you were my age?”
17. Thank-you cards. Kids make a card for someone who helped them this year: a teacher, coach, neighbor or bus driver.
18. Gratitude ABCs. Go around the table and name something you’re thankful for that starts with A, then B, and so on.
19. Thankful list. The “I’m thankful for…” lines on our placemat give kids a quiet way to answer in writing before they share out loud.

Simple Thanksgiving crafts

Pick crafts that dry fast and don’t need a hot glue gun. Set up on a washable surface, away from where food is being served.

20. Handprint turkeys. Paint a hand in fall colors and press it on paper. The thumb is the head and the fingers are the feathers.
21. Paper plate turkeys. Glue paper feathers around a paper plate and add a paper beak and googly eyes.
22. Pinecone turkeys. Tuck strips of colored paper into a pinecone as feathers, then glue on a paper head.
23. Paper leaf garland. Cut leaves from paper, punch a hole in each and thread them onto string to hang behind the table.

Active games after the meal

After a big meal, kids need to move. These work indoors or in the yard.

24. Turkey bowling. Set up empty plastic bottles as pins and roll a soft ball.
25. Pin the feather on the turkey. Draw a big turkey on poster paper, tape it to a door and use paper feathers with tape.
26. Leaf pile jump. If you have a yard with trees, rake a pile and let the kids loose.
27. Family walk. A short walk after dinner gives kids a break from the table and gives the cooks some quiet.

Kitchen jobs by age

Kids are more likely to try a dish they helped make. Match the job to the age, and let an adult handle the oven, the stove and sharp knives.

Age	Kitchen jobs
2 to 3	Wash vegetables in a bowl of water, tear lettuce, pour pre-measured ingredients
4 to 5	Stir batter, mash potatoes, set out rolls, sprinkle toppings
6 to 8	Measure ingredients, crack eggs, peel cooked potatoes, arrange a veggie tray
9 and up	Follow a simple recipe with an adult nearby, whip cream, help plan the dessert table

Ask about food allergies before any edible craft or snack activity, especially when cousins and friends are visiting.

Activities for the drive

Many families travel for Thanksgiving. A clipboard, crayons and a few printables go a long way in the car. Our list of 25 screen-free road trip activities for kids covers games by age. You can also print our free road trip bingo to pack with the Thanksgiving placemat.

28. License plate game. Count how many different states you spot on the way.
29. Thankful countdown. Name one thing you’re thankful for at every exit or town sign.
30. Story chain. One person starts a Thanksgiving story and each person adds one sentence.

Tips for a calmer Thanksgiving with kids

• Prep the night before. Print the activity sheets, fill a cup with crayons and set up the kids’ table early.
• Plan for the wait before dessert. That gap is when kids get restless. Save one new activity for it.
• Give kids a quiet corner. A spot with books and coloring pages helps kids who get overwhelmed by a crowded house.
• Keep expectations small. Ten good minutes per activity is a success, especially for toddlers.

Make the day easier with printables

A few printables do a lot of the work on a busy holiday. Start with the free Thanksgiving placemat and table bingo. For a longer quiet stretch while the turkey roasts, our 20 printable coloring pages for kids cover trucks, castles, rockets and nature scenes with bold outlines that are easy for small hands. You can find more free downloads on our free printables page.

Planning ahead for December? Our Christmas activity book for kids has 50 holiday activities for ages 4–8, from coloring pages and mazes to word searches and counting worksheets, with answer keys included.