10 Adorable Thanksgiving Crafts Kids Can Make for Your Home Décor
Thanksgiving is all about family, good food, and giving thanks! What better way to get your little turkeys involved in the fun than with some super simple crafts? These projects are perfect for preschool and elementary kids and will add a cozy, handmade touch to your home that guests will totally love.From paper turkeys to thankful trees, our Thanksgiving crafts kids love are simple, festive, and budget-friendly.
Forget the complicated, messy projects! We’ve put together a list of 10 easy DIY Thanksgiving crafts your kids can make in a snap. They’ll be so proud to see their creations on the mantel or dining table, adding that perfect, vibrant fall feeling to your decorations. Get ready to sprinkle some creativity and sparkle into your home this year!
Quick Start: Essential Tips for Pinterest-Worthy Kids Crafts
- Use Our Free Printables! Don’t stress about drawing perfect shapes; grab our free templates mentioned below to make things fast and fun.
- Prep the Supplies: Lay out all materials (crayons, glue, paper) before you start to keep the crafting smooth and easy.
- Focus on the Table: Many of these crafts double as beautiful place cards or napkin rings for your main dining table.
- Embrace Texture: Use fun materials like yarn, felt, or even dry pasta to make your decorations look fancier and more cozy.
- Make it Thankful: Always ask kids to write down what they are thankful for on their craft—it makes it special!
- Keep it Safe: Use non-toxic glue sticks for smaller hands to keep clean-up quick and safe for everyone.
- Display Proudly: These crafts look best when they are front-and-center, like on the mantle or as a centerpiece!
Quick Supply Checklist: Get Everything Ready!
Before you start, make sure you have these easy-to-find items ready to go. This list helps keep your crafting session stress-free!
- Popsicle sticks and craft glue
- Fall-colored construction paper (red, orange, gold)
- Googly eyes and colorful yarn
- Small pinecones (found outside!)
- Washable markers and plain coffee filters
- Twine or ribbon for hanging/tying
1. Thankful Turkey Handprints (Toddler & Preschool Friendly)
This is a classic craft that always makes for an adorable memory to keep! Use colorful paint to let your kids stamp their hands onto paper, with each finger becoming a brightly colored feather for the turkey. Then, they can add a simple thumbprint for the body and glue on googly eyes for a silly, fun friend.
These handprint turkeys look fantastic taped on the fridge or framed for the entryway table, making a vibrant welcome. Since this one can be messy, it’s a great way for preschool kids to use up energy before the big dinner!
Pro Tip: To make this décor-ready, trace the finished handprint onto brown or gold cardstock instead of plain paper, making it sturdier for framing.
2. Popsicle Stick Scarecrow Place Settings (Ages 5+ Table Focus)
Grab some simple wooden craft sticks and lay four or five side-by-side to make a square shape for your scarecrow. Kids can paint these a light brown or straw yellow, and then glue on pieces of yarn for the cute, floppy hat and some straw-like hair peeking out the top.
Add a simple triangle nose and a big, happy smile with a black marker to finish your friendly fall pal. These are sturdy enough to stand up right next to a plate, making them the perfect little place card holder for each seat at the table!
3. Paper Cornucopia Treat Holders (Easy DIY)
The cornucopia is a traditional symbol of the harvest, and kids can make a colorful one that looks almost good enough to eat! Cut a paper plate in half and help the kids carefully roll it into a cone shape, then staple or glue the edge to make the horn of plenty.
The best part is filling it! Kids can glue on colorful cereal, small pieces of dry pasta, or even colorful pom-poms to look like the overflowing food of the season. This easy DIY project creates a cheerful centerpiece that doubles as a sweet treat holder.
Pro Tip: If you skip the food and only use craft supplies, this can become a wonderful small vase for a few tiny sprigs of greenery or baby’s breath, giving it a more elegant, cozy look.
4. Mason Jar Leaf Lanterns (Cozy Glow Décor)
These glowing jars are a safe and cozy way to add light to your decorations (always use battery-powered tealights!). Kids can brush clear craft glue all over the outside of a clean jar and then gently press real, dry fall leaves all over the glass.
Once the glue is dry, tie a simple piece of natural twine around the rim to make it look extra rustic. When the lights are dimmed, the light shines through the leaves, creating a vibrant glow that makes any room feel warm.
5. Acorn Cap Mini Turkey Place Card Holders (Ages 4+ Table Focus)
Collect some small, round acorn caps on your next walk—you’ll just need the top part! Kids can paint the caps brown or gold and then glue tiny, colorful craft feathers to the back to make a silly tail fan.
Add one tiny googly eye and a small triangle for the beak, and you have a perfect little turkey magnet or tiny decoration. Place a small, handwritten name tag onto the body to instantly turn this into a charming place card.
6. Free Printable Thankful Tree (Ages 6+ Gratitude Focus)
The thankful tree is a beautiful way to focus on gratitude. Find a few small, dry branches outside and place them in a small vase or painted tin can to make your “tree.” You can download our Free Printable Leaf Template to make this super fast!
Cut out lots of leaf shapes from nice paper using the template. Have your elementary kids write down one thing they are grateful for on each paper leaf, and then they can use twine to hang them on the tree branches.
Pro Tip: Once the tree is full, this centerpiece becomes a wonderful conversation starter at the dinner table—you can even read a few wishes aloud before eating!
7. Pinecone Pilgrim Hats (Modern Mantel Décor)
Start by finding some nice, plump pinecones that can stand up on their own. These will be the fun, textured bodies of your pilgrims! Kids can paint the scales a solid dark brown or even spray them with a touch of gold sparkle paint.
Next, cut out a small circle of black felt or paper for the brim and a short cylinder shape for the top of the hat. Glue the hat right on top of the pinecone for an instantly recognizable, charming piece of Thanksgiving décor for the fireplace mantel.
8. Beaded Pipe Cleaner Napkin Rings (Elementary Table Focus)
These rings are a perfect craft for dressing up the dining table! Give your kids several pipe cleaners in fall colors like red, gold, and bronze. They can thread small wooden or pony beads onto the pipe cleaners until they are almost full.
Once they have enough beads, help them twist the ends together to form a perfect circle that slides right over a cloth napkin. These vibrant, beaded rings add a handmade, elegant touch that makes the table look special.
9. Coffee Filter Suncatcher Leaves (Easy Window Sparkle)
This craft is super easy and creates beautiful window art! Kids color white coffee filters completely with washable markers in bright fall colors like red, orange, and yellow. They should color hard to get the paper saturated.
Then, they can gently spray the colored filters with a tiny mist of water from a spray bottle, watching the colors bleed and blend together like magic. Once dry, cut them into leaf shapes and tape them to a sunny window for a sparkle that shines all day.
10. Candy Corn Paper Banners (Fun Food Theme)
Candy corn is an iconic fall treat, and it makes for a fun food-themed banner! Have the kids cut out triangle shapes from orange, yellow, and white construction paper or felt.
They can simply layer the colored shapes onto a white triangle base, creating the signature three-color candy corn look. Punch a hole in the top two corners, string them onto some twine, and hang your festive banner across the doorway or kitchen cabinets.
Pro Tip: If you skip the stringing and just use cardstock, these triangles make wonderful, colorful place mats for a quick table runner accent!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are answers to common questions we get about making Thanksgiving crafts simple and fun!
Q1: What is the easiest craft for a 3-year-old (preschool)? A: Craft #1, the Thankful Turkey Handprints, is best. Toddlers and preschoolers love the sensory experience of painting, and you can handle the cutting and gluing details for them.
Q2: Do these crafts really work for home décor or are they just for the classroom? A: They are perfect for home décor! By using better materials like twine, metallic paint, or framing the finished art, they look much nicer than typical classroom projects. Crafts #4 (Lanterns) and #6 (Thankful Tree) are especially nice décor items.
Q3: My kids only have 30 minutes. Which craft is the fastest? A: Craft #10, the Candy Corn Banner, or Craft #9, the Coffee Filter Leaves, are very fast. Coloring the filters or cutting the simple triangles takes very little time before the drying stage.
Q4: How can I make the “Thankful Tree” look more like a centerpiece? A: Use sturdy, interesting branches and place them in a heavy, decorative vase filled with dried beans or small river stones instead of just water. This will keep your centerpiece from tipping over easily.
Q5: I want to use these as place cards. Which ones are best for writing guest names? A: Crafts #2 (Scarecrows), #5 (Turkey Place Card Holders), and Craft #10 (if made from cardstock triangles) work best because they have a flat surface perfect for writing names neatly.
Q6: Which craft helps talk about what we are thankful for? A: Craft #6, the Thankful Tree, is designed specifically for this! It gives everyone a dedicated spot to share a simple blessing or thing they appreciate.
Q7: What if I don’t have real pinecones or acorns outside? A: You can often find small bags of pinecones in the fall décor section of craft stores. For acorns, you can use small, smooth brown pebbles or paint small pieces of rolled-up brown felt instead!
Happy Crafting!
We hope these 10 adorable Thanksgiving crafts inspire a fun afternoon of creation and family bonding! Seeing these handmade decorations around your home will add a cozy and personal warmth that you can’t buy in a store. These easy projects are a fantastic way to keep kids busy and proud as they help decorate for the holiday. Now that you’ve got your list, which craft will you and your little ones try first? Please let us know in the comments below which craft you pick, and be sure to share this list with another family who needs some easy décor ideas!
