Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to enjoy a variety of creative projects with children. The ideas below include writing, research, crafts and miscellaneous learning projects that are fun and inexpensive. Enjoy!
Easy Creative Writing Ideas for Children
The following writing prompts will get the creative juices flowing and are appropriate for a variety of ages. If a child is too young to write his or her own story down on paper, have him/her dictate it to an adult and then illustrate.
An easy way to make a story book is to fold a piece of construction paper in half and fold several sheets of plain white paper in half. Insert the white sheets and staple along where the spine of a book would be. Younger children may need to have lines drawn on the bottom of the page so they can write their sentences. They can then draw a picture on the top half of the page.
If a larger book is desired, use two pieces of construction paper - one for the cover and one for the back. Staple white sheets inside. The staples can be put along the top or the left side depending on the child's preference.
Pilgrim Writing Prompts
- When the Pilgrims Landed…
- My Mayflower Voyage
- Too Much Popcorn!
- Hannah Prepares for the Feast
Thanksgiving Writing Prompts
- Thanksgiving means…
- My Perfect Thanksgiving Day
- How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner
- Thanksgiving at Grandma’s
- The Perfect Thanksgiving Meal
- My Thanksgiving Leftovers Recipe
- A Thanksgiving Fairy Tale
- Thanksgiving Blizzard
- The Thanksgiving Our Airplane Got Lost
- A Prairie Thanksgiving
- The Year Without Cranberries
- The Case of the Missing Pumpkin Pie
- Thanksgiving Chaos: A Squirrel, a Pumpkin and My Dog, Buddy
- Thanksgiving in Space
- The Man Who Outlawed Thanksgiving
Turkey Writing Prompts
- Ten Ways to Use a Turkey (without eating it)
- Tom Turkey’s Fantastic Adventure
- TAS Society: Turkeys Against Stuffing
Read and Learn About Thanksgiving Using KWL Chart
There is so much to learn about this special American holiday. Start by doing some reading about these topics.
- The Pilgrims
- The Mayflower
- The Mayflower Compact
- Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863
- Thanksgiving Celebration History Timeline
- Why is Thanksgiving always the fourth Thursday?
- Regional Thanksgiving Traditions
One way to keep track of what is learned is by doing a KWL chart. KWL stands for Know (what the child already knows), Want (what the child wants to know) and Learn (what the child has learned). Start by drawing two vertical lines to make a chart on a piece of paper so there are three equal sections. Label the top of the left section Know, the middle section Want, and the right section Learn. In the first section, write down everything the child knows about the topic. In the middle section, make a list of what the child wants to learn. Use the middle section questions to guide the learning and reading. When the reading and studying is done, fill in the right section with everything the child has learned. If any of the want to learn questions in the middle section weren't answered, continue digging to find the answers!
Easy Hands-on Thanksgiving Projects for Children
There are so many ways to celebrate Thanksgiving! This list of projects varies widely in age appropriateness, although many can be adapted to make them work for a variety of ages. Most of these projects can be completed with simple supplies probably already around the home or classroom.
- Make an acrostic for Thanksgiving Day. For each letter, think of a word or phrase related to Thanksgiving.
- How many words can someone make using the letters in “Happy Thanksgiving Day!”
- Illustrate a drawing of The Mayflower.
- Make a diorama.
- Design a Thanksgiving card.
- Make placemats for Thanksgiving dinner.
- Create a bookmark favor for your Thanksgiving guests.
- Create a board game.
- Make a puppet.
- Make a card game.
- Write a Mayflower Times or Plymouth Herald newspaper.
- Draw a poster advertising traveling to America on The Mayflower.
- Write a Thanksgiving Day skit.
- Write a Pilgrim biography.
- Chose a favorite Thanksgiving book and write a letter to a friend, telling him about why he should buy the book and read it.
- Write a poem about the first Thanksgiving.
- Pretend to be a Pilgrim child. Write a letter to a friend back home and tell them about the voyage and first year in America.
- Draw a comic strip.
- Make a flannel board story.
- Design a cross stitch or needlepoint sampler.
- Make a word search.
- Make a crossword puzzle.
- Make a mobile out of a hanger.
- Make a banner.
Thanksgiving is such a fun time of year. There are many ways to learn about the Pilgrims, the history of the holiday and reflect on the importance of the celebration. By using these easy writing prompts, project ideas, and hands-on activities, it will be easy to create a memorable holiday. For more Thanksgiving ideas, also see:
- Creative Thanksgiving Activities for Children - a collection of free holiday projects and easy ideas for families, teachers and kids
- Create Meaningful Family Thanksgiving Traditions - special ways to focus on the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday and encourage the development of family traditions
- Classic Thanksgiving Picture Books - two can't miss books that children are sure to enjoy.
Sallie Schaaf Borrink - Sallie Borrink is a professional writer with extensive experience with business clients, the consumer market, and online destinations.
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