Thanksgiving Day Activities For Kids

While the turkey and other yummy food is cooking on Thanksgiving Day, keep the kids busy with these 7 Thanksgiving Day Activities for Kids.    

Thanksgiving Activities for Kids

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! I am both excited and overwhelmed for the week to get started! Today I am headed out to the grocery stores, so here’s to hoping the stores aren’t too CRAZY!  I wanted to hop on here today and share a few Thanksgiving day activities for kids. If you are hosting and having kids at your festivities, these are some ideas to keep the kids occupied while the turkey is cooking.

Does anyone else have memories of the meal preparations feeling like forever as a kid?! Hopefully these activities will help to pass the time more quickly for the little ones in the house!

Family Workout on Thanksgiving

Every year we run a Thanksgiving Day morning race! For the last few years our big kids have joined us. It is a great way to start Thanksgiving day and to get moving! Most major cities have races on and around Thanksgiving Day. What can be a better excuse to eat all the food you want on Thanksgiving, then to start the day with some exercise!

Whether we run or it ends up being more of a light trot, it is still a lot of fun! Most big cities have a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day so take a look for one in your area!

It is a great activity if you have family and friends in town too–the more the merrier!

Create Place Cards

After a morning workout, it is nice to work on a crafty project! Whether you have a fancy Thanksgiving dinner or a very casual gathering, it is a sweet gesture for the kids to make homemade place cards.  Your guests will appreciate these cards made with love.

I have the kids create a place card for each guest. This can be as elaborate as you want but we usually stick to basic.

Just seeing the kids handwriting is a sweet touch to the Thanksgiving table.

Make a Kid Friendly Dessert or Appetizer

You will not get any complaints on Thanksgiving when you ask the kids to make a Thanksgiving dessert! My kids love this one!

Each year I look for easy, Thanksgiving themed desserts that the kids can create with minimal help from grown ups. Here are some of our past creations. We’ve made these and these every year! The younger kids can unwrap the candies while the big kids assemble the treats!

Most years we make these pilgrim hat cookies and Hershey Kiss acorns.

We’ve also attempted some “turkey” appetizer platters. I show the kids a picture and let them get creative!

Thanksgiving Turkey Veggie Platter

 

Thanksgiving Turkey Cheese Platter

Have the Kids Serve Others

As the kids have gotten older, I have encouraged them to serve others when we are hosting parties. Bigger kids can carry appetizer plates around and the little ones can pass out appetizer napkins. Kids can also take guests’ coats and put them away!

Before meal time, I have the kids take drink orders. They love walking around with a notepad taking orders! Older children can help fulfill those drink orders! There is a helpful task for kids of all ages –you just have to be creative sometimes.

Get Crafty

This year I found this festive and fun tablecloth at Target for the kids section of our table! You could also print out some coloring pages like these, and set them up in a kid friendly area. Or perhaps, have the kids make fun pilgrim hats…do you remember making these as a kid?!

Send The Kids Outside

When the kids start to get stir crazy, send them outside for a game of basketball or football! It’s a great way for the whole family to burn off some of that turkey…so encourage the adults to join in the fun!

Play Games

Some years I’ve picked up a new board game that I bring out for the kids on Thanksgiving. This year, I found this game at Target that I hope will be a hit! After dinner, we often play games as a family including Apples to Apples and card games. It’s fun to find games that multiple generations can participate.

Be sure to check out this Thanksgiving Pinterest Board for more ideas and activities!

https://www.pinterest.com/coffeepancakesdreams/thanksgiving-recipes-decorations-and-kids-activiti/

Are you looking for more Thanksgiving Activities and Decor Inspiration?

Check out these posts:

Thanksgiving Home Tour

Thankful Chalkboard Idea

Simple and Rustic Thanksgiving Tablescape