Mid-November in an elementary classroom gets wild. Energy runs high, attention spans drop, and everyone counts down the days to break. Handing your students construction paper and glue sticks channels that restlessness into focused creativity.
Craft time works wonders whether you teach first graders or fifth graders. These projects build fine motor control, practice spatial reasoning, and prompt honest conversations about gratitude. Your bulletin board will look great all month, too. Here is a list of 17 fun Thanksgiving crafts for kids elementary students will love making this season.
1. Pinecone turkey with felt feathers
Turn ordinary backyard pinecones into simple wild turkeys. Kids enjoy the contrast between rough pinecone scales and soft felt cutouts. You can gather pinecones outdoors during recess to turn the prep work into a quick outdoor scavenger hunt.
Cut tail feathers from red, orange, yellow, and brown felt sheets. Tuck the felt pieces directly between the pinecone scales, securing them with craft glue. Add googly eyes and a tiny felt beak to the front. The spiky pinecones transform into sturdy holiday centerpieces.
2. Paper plate Thanksgiving pie craft
Kids love assembling their own Thanksgiving desserts using basic paper materials. You only need paper plates, brown paint, orange construction paper, and cotton balls for this project.
First, paint the rim of the paper plate light brown to look like a pie crust. Next, glue a circle of orange construction paper into the center for the pumpkin filling. Finish the slice by gluing a fluffy cotton ball in the middle for a dollop of whipped cream.
For more art ideas, check out our collection of Thanksgiving art projects for kids to keep your classroom calendar full all month long.
3. Beaded pipe cleaner corn cobs
This hands-on Indian corn craft builds strong fine motor coordination while exploring autumn harvest traditions. Students thread pony beads onto pipe cleaners to mimic the colorful, multicolored kernels of flint corn. This project keeps energetic third graders calm and focused.
Materials needed:
- Brown or tan pipe cleaners
- Pony beads (yellow, orange, brown, red, and purple)
- Raffia or green construction paper for husks
String 15 to 20 pony beads onto three separate pipe cleaners. Twist the bottom ends together, bundle the beaded strands, and twist the top ends closed. Wrap green raffia around the top to form realistic corn husks.
4. Mason jar turkey leaf lanterns
Light up your classroom windows with glowing turkey lanterns. Students coat clean glass jars with decoupage glue and press colorful autumn leaves onto the glass. You can use real pressed leaves or fabric maple leaves from a craft supply store.
Once the leaves dry, glue cardstock turkey features onto the front of the jar. Drop a flameless LED tea light inside to show off a warm, amber glow. These make excellent handmade gifts for students to take home to parents.
5. Handprint turkey oven mitts
Create a functional keepsake that parents save for years. Buy inexpensive, plain fabric oven mitts from a local shop. Press a child’s hand into washable fabric paint and stamp it directly onto the mitt.
The thumb forms the turkey head while the four fingers create colorful tail feathers. Use fabric markers to add a beak, wattle, eyes, and small legs. Write the student’s name and the year along the cuff to complete the project.
6. Cardboard roll Thanksgiving Pilgrims
Recycle paper towel and toilet paper tubes into historical figures. Students paint cardboard tubes black and brown to build the main outfits. Construction paper cutouts turn simple tubes into detailed figures complete with bonnet hats and buckled belts.
This project pairs directly with history lessons about the First Thanksgiving dinner in 1621. Visit Education.com for historical lesson plans that match this crafting session. Older elementary students can customize their figures with yarn hair and small paper accessories.
7. The classroom gratitude tree
Build a shared daily display of appreciation on your classroom wall. Draw a large bare tree trunk on butcher paper and staple it to your main bulletin board. Cut leaf shapes out of sturdy paper using deep fall colors.
Every morning in November, ask students to write one thing they appreciate on a paper leaf. Glue the leaves onto the branches daily. By Thanksgiving week, your plain tree trunk turns into a full canopy of gratitude.
8. Coffee filter turkey craft
Combine basic science and art through color diffusion. Kids color white coffee filters using washable markers in warm tones. Lightly mist the filters with water using a spray bottle so the colors bleed together into soft watercolor patterns.
While the wet filters dry, cut out brown cardstock turkey bodies. Glue the colorful, dry coffee filter behind the body to create a wide fan of tail feathers. Every turkey ends up looking completely unique.
9. Paper bag turkey puppets
Bring interactive storytelling into your room with classic paper bag puppets. Kids transform lunch bags into silly birds using construction paper, glue, and real feathers. The bottom fold of the bag creates a working movable mouth.
Glue craft feathers onto the back flap of the bag. Paste googly eyes, a yellow paper beak, and a red wattle onto the front fold. Students love putting on mini puppet shows for their classmates once the glue dries.
10. Clay pumpkin place card holders
Let upper elementary students craft custom place card holders for their dinner tables at home. Roll air-dry clay into small spheres. Use a plastic knife or ruler to press shallow vertical lines into the sides of the clay ball to mark a pumpkin shape.
Insert a coiled piece of floral wire or a bent paperclip directly into the top of the clay pumpkin. After the clay hardens overnight, paint the pumpkins with acrylic paint. The top wire coil holds family name cards upright on the table.
11. Popsicle stick Mayflower ship
Build a model of the historic Mayflower ship using craft sticks and paper sails. Lay several popsicle sticks side by side and join them together using cross-bar sticks to form a sturdy hull. Paint the wooden hull dark brown.
Attach three wooden skewers vertically onto the hull to serve as masts. Thread rectangular pieces of white cardstock onto the skewers to create curved sails. This practical project challenges students to think about balance and structural design.
12. Yarn-wrapped turkey craft
Yarn wrapping builds hand strength, concentration, and precision. Cut thick cardboard into flat turkey shapes. Give each student a small ball of brown, red, or orange yarn to wrap continuously around the cardboard cutout.
Wrap the yarn around the cardboard until you cover the center completely. Tuck the loose end into the wrapped strands to pin it down. Glue on craft eyes, felt feet, and real turkey feathers to complete this soft, textured bird.
13. Cinnamon stick turkey ornaments
Fill your room with the clean scents of autumn. Glue three cinnamon sticks together into a triangle shape to build the base frame of the bird. Attach brown felt to the back of the frame.
Glue colorful fall leaves or craft feathers to the top point of the triangle. Add googly eyes and a small orange beak to the cinnamon stick base. Kids love making these sweet-smelling holiday decorations, and parents appreciate taking them home.
14. Dried leaf turkey art
Head outside and collect fallen autumn foliage for this nature project. Students gather crisp maple, oak, and birch leaves from around the school ground. Arrange and layer the collected leaves on a sheet of cardstock to build a natural turkey tail.
Glue a paper turkey body directly over the leaf stems. If your students like using real foliage in their art, check out these creative leaf animals crafts for kids for more nature craft ideas.
15. Construction paper turkey wreath
Brighten up your school hallways with paper wreaths. Cut the center out of paper plates to create sturdy ring bases. Ask students to trace their hands onto autumn-colored paper and cut out the handprints.
Glue the paper handprints around the plate ring in an overlapping circular pattern. Add a cute turkey head cut from cardstock to the bottom center of the wreath. Discover more fall decor crafts to deck out your classroom space this season.
16. Egg carton turkey craft
Save your cardboard egg cartons for crafting. Cut the individual egg cups apart to create small turkey bodies. Flip the cups upside down and paint them brown using washable paint.
Poke small holes in the back of the cardboard cup and slide colorful craft feathers inside. Glue googly eyes and a red paper wattle onto the front. Teacher tip: Fill the hollow underside of the egg cup with wrapped chocolates for a quiet treat at the end of class.
17. DIY Pilgrim hat pencil holders
Keep student desks organized with custom desk accessories. Wrap a clean aluminum tin can or paper towel tube with black construction paper. Cut a wide black circle out of thick cardstock and glue it to the bottom to create the hat brim.
Wrap a strip of yellow or gold paper around the hat base to form the belt buckle. This practical container holds markers, colored pencils, or scissors neatly on student desks. Visit Crayola for extra templates and color ideas to customize your holders.
Wrapping up your Thanksgiving craft sessions
Crafting during November offers much more than a quiet break from regular desk work. These Thanksgiving crafts for kids build spatial awareness, encourage active expression, and create warm holiday memories that last long after dinner is over.
Set up your crafting stations with simple tablecloths, organize your supplies in advance, and let your students take charge of their projects. Pick your favorite project and get your class crafting today.