Make Thanksgiving fun for children with crafts, games, and activities that build gratitude, connection, and lasting family memories.
Thanksgiving is a holiday built on connection, gratitude, and togetherness but for children, it can sometimes feel like a long day of sitting at the table, listening to grown-up conversations, and waiting for dessert. With a little planning, families can turn Thanksgiving into a celebration that’s engaging for everyone, no matter their age.
By inviting children into traditions, hands-on activities, and creativity, they feel included, valued, and excited. Here are some ideas to make this year’s celebration more engaging for children:
1. Invite Them Into the Kitchen
Children can be helpers in Thanksgiving prep in simple yet meaningful ways. Younger ones can rinse vegetables, arrange rolls in a basket, or stir batter. Older ones can measure ingredients, mash potatoes, or help decorate pies. Let them wear a small apron or chef’s hat. This instantly makes the task more fun and shows they’re part of the team. Even giving them the “official job” of a taste tester makes them feel important.
How it helps: Cooking together builds confidence, teaches responsibility, and turns preparation time into shared family time.
2. Create a Gratitude Craft Table
Thanksgiving is about gratitude but instead of limiting it to a quick “What are you thankful for?” at the table, make it interactive. Set up a corner with paper leaves, markers, glue, and stickers. Children can write or draw what they’re thankful for and attach it to a “thankful tree” made from branches in a vase. Keep the tree and add to it year after year, it becomes a living family tradition.
How it helps: Turning gratitude into something visual and creative helps children reflect more deeply while enjoying the process.
3. Design a Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
While food is cooking and adults are busy, give children a mission to find items around the house or yard that fit a Thanksgiving theme. The list might include a pumpkin, something orange, a candle, a leaf, or even “a family member wearing a funny hat.” Add riddles or clues for older children to make it more of a puzzle. You can adapt the challenge based on their age.
How it helps: It keeps them moving, problem-solving, and laughing, which channels their energy in a positive way.
4. Plan Movement Breaks
Thanksgiving dinners can stretch longer than children’s patience. Instead of expecting them to sit through everything, build in small activity breaks. Play charades in the living room, toss a ball outside before dessert, or have a quick “dance-off” in the kitchen between courses. Even 10 minutes of movement makes sitting for the next part of the meal more manageable.
How it helps: These breaks prevent restlessness and allow children to release energy in a fun way.
5. Create a Children’s Table With Activities
If you have a separate table for children, make it special. Instead of just a smaller version of the adult setup, cover it with butcher paper for doodling, set out crayons, or add simple puzzles. You can also put conversation starters on cards (“What’s your favourite holiday memory?” or “If you could make a new holiday, what would it be?”). Place small themed decorations at their table so it feels festive too.
How it helps: Giving children a table designed for them keeps them engaged and allows them to feel like they’re hosting their own part of the celebration.
6. Organize a Mini Parade at Home
Children love parades and if you don’t watch the big one on TV, you can create your own. Give them paper, markers, and tape to make hats or banners. If you have cardboard boxes, they can decorate them into “floats.” Put on some lively music and let them march through the living room, showing off their creations. Let adults be the “audience” clapping and cheering, it makes the moment feel special.
How it helps: It gives children a sense of performance, creativity, and pride, while keeping them entertained as food finishes up.
7. Make Music Part of the Celebration
Music is a natural way to bring people together. Hand out simple instruments like shakers, tambourines, or even pots and wooden spoons. Have each family member create a beat and layer them together for a “family song.” Or, turn it into a mini talent show where children can sing, dance, or play their homemade instruments. Record the performance and replay it later, it’s always fun to see how the “band” sounded.
How it helps: Making music together boosts creativity, builds cooperation, and creates joyful shared memories.
8. Capture the Day Together
Children often see details adults miss, so let them be photographers for the day. Give them disposable cameras or a phone (with supervision) and ask them to capture Thanksgiving through their eyes like the table, the food, their cousins laughing, or the dog begging for scraps. Later, create a small slideshow or photo board with their shots. You may also turn their best photos into next year’s Thanksgiving invitations or decorations.
How it helps: Photography builds observation skills and gives children a meaningful role in documenting family memories.
9. Share Family Stories
Thanksgiving naturally invites reflection. After dinner, gather together and share stories from past holidays, funny family moments, or simply what each person is thankful for. Encourage children to tell their own stories, it could be as short as something that made them laugh that day. You may record stories on video or audio to keep as a family treasure.
How it helps: Storytelling strengthens family bonds and shows children that their voices and memories matter too.
10. End With a Cozy Family Movie or Game
After a busy day, unwind with something everyone can enjoy. Pick a family-friendly Thanksgiving movie, a short animated film, or bring out a board game that includes all ages. Provide blankets, hot chocolate, or leftover pie to make it extra cozy. Let children help pick the game or movie, it makes them feel part of the decision-making.
How it helps: Ending the day with a calm connection helps children associate Thanksgiving with warmth, laughter, and relaxation.
Final Thoughts
For children, Thanksgiving is about being seen, heard, and included in the celebration. With simple activities like scavenger hunts, crafts, storytelling, and family games, the day transforms from hours of waiting into a holiday filled with laughter and memories.
When families invite children into the heart of Thanksgiving, everyone wins. Adults enjoy fewer meltdowns and more meaningful connections, and children walk away with a stronger sense of gratitude, belonging, and joy.
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