Thanksgiving Activities for Kids: Printable Coloring Pages, Disguise a Turkey and Kids’ Table Fun
The turkey is in the oven, the grown-ups are busy in the kitchen and the kids are already asking when dinner will be ready. A few printed pages, a box of crayons and a spot at the kids’ table are all you need to make the wait fun. Here are easy Thanksgiving activities for kids ages 3–8 that you can print at home: coloring pages, the classic Disguise a Turkey project, kids’ table placemats with puzzles and a Thankful Jar the whole family can fill together.
What’s in the Thanksgiving Kids Activity Pack?
The Thanksgiving Kids Activity Pack is a printable PDF with 19 pages for kids ages 3–8. It has a cover with a “This book belongs to” line, 10 Thanksgiving coloring pages, a Disguise a Turkey idea page and template, 2 kids’ table placemats, 6 “I’m thankful for…” cards, a Thankful Jar craft with 12 leaves and a thank-you page. You get it in US Letter and A4, so it prints well on any home printer in black and white. Want to see a few pages first? Download the free sample.
1. Thanksgiving coloring pages
The 10 coloring pages have big, clear shapes that little hands can color without frustration: a smiling turkey, a pumpkin patch, falling leaves, the Thanksgiving table, pies, a horn of plenty, a squirrel with an acorn, a friendly scarecrow, a harvest basket and a cozy fall house. Each page has a short title in outline letters that kids can color too. Older kids can add details—a pattern on the pumpkins, faces on the pies, a whole family of squirrels.
2. Disguise a Turkey
Disguise a Turkey is a favorite fall project in many US schools and homes. The idea is simple: Tom the Turkey doesn’t want to be on the Thanksgiving menu, so kids help him hide by giving him a disguise. The pack has an idea page with 12 disguises—a chef, an astronaut, a firefighter, a pirate, a farmer, a snowman, a doctor, a football player, a mermaid, a king or queen, a pumpkin and a make-your-own superhero—and a big turkey template with an empty body. Kids draw the disguise, color it and give Tom a secret name. You can also glue on paper scraps, cotton balls, yarn or buttons.
3. Kids’ table placemats
Print the two placemats in landscape and put one at every seat at the kids’ table. The first has a maze (help the turkey find the pie), a word search with 10 Thanksgiving words and a box to draw what you are thankful for. The second has a dot-to-dot pumpkin from 1 to 26, a “How many?” counting game and two tic-tac-toe grids to play with the person sitting next to you. Little ones can color while older kids race through the word search.
4. Thankful cards and a Thankful Jar
Thanksgiving is about saying thank you, and kids love to make something they can give. The pack has 6 “I’m thankful for…” cards to color, cut out and hand to someone at the table. For the Thankful Jar, kids color the big jar, cut out the 12 leaves, write or draw something they are thankful for on each one and glue the leaves onto the jar. Start it a few days before Thanksgiving and read the leaves together at dinner.
Thanksgiving activities for kids: a simple plan for the day
Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26. Here is one way to spread the activities over the holiday:
- The days before: Disguise a Turkey and the Thankful Jar—both are good projects for a quiet afternoon or a classroom party.
- The morning: a few coloring pages while the kitchen is busy.
- Before the guests arrive: set out the placemats and a cup of crayons on the kids’ table.
- At dinner: hand out the thankful cards and read the leaves on the Thankful Jar.
- After dinner: tic-tac-toe and the word search for anyone who still has energy.
Free sample or full pack?
The free sample has 4 pages: the cover, the turkey coloring page, the big Disguise a Turkey template and an end page. Enter your email on the product page and the download link appears right away—no checkout and no payment. The full pack (€3.90) has all 19 pages: 10 coloring pages, the Disguise a Turkey idea page and template, 2 kids’ table placemats, 6 thankful cards and the Thankful Jar craft.
Download the free sample See the full pack
For older kids and grown-ups: a harvest dice game
Want a game for the whole family after dinner? Grandma’s Garden & Jars is a printable roll-and-write game for 1–6 players. Someone rolls 2 dice for everyone: one die is the row, the other is the vegetable. Draw strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cabbages and pumpkins on your garden sheet and fill Grandma’s shelf with jars at every harvest. When winter comes, the game ends and the player with the most points wins.
Download the free edition See the full edition
What you need to print
A printer, US Letter or A4 paper and crayons or markers. For the thankful cards and the jar you also need scissors and glue—young children need a grown-up’s help with scissors. Print the placemats in landscape so they fill the page.
Happy Thanksgiving—and enjoy a calm, cheerful kids’ table!
The photo scene is AI-generated. The files are for your own family, or for your own class or group if you are a teacher. Small cut-out parts are not suitable for children under 3.
More ideas on this topic
- Disguise a Turkey Printable: Free Template and Step-by-Step Project Guide
- Thanksgiving Games for Kids: Easy Ideas for the Kids’ Table and After Dinner
- Thanksgiving Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarten: A Week-Long Classroom Plan
- Thanksgiving Games for the Whole Family: 6 Printable Games for Your Table