Feast on Fun! Great Thanksgiving Books and Activities for Kids

by Devon A. Corneal

Photo credit: Shestock/Getty Images

Thanksgiving is a time of celebration, food, family, and friends. Get your kids excited about the upcoming holiday, or distract them day-of, with some great Thanksgiving reads and crafts.

Check out our list of festive, easy, and delicious activities for everyone from babies to grade schoolers. Pick one, or a few, and then sit back and see what they create!

  • MAKE: Holiday Centerpiece

    This book is so full of activities, recipes, crafts, and information, that it’s hard to suggest just one, but why not go nuts and try the table centerpiece! Kids will love having contributed to the holiday décor and you won’t have to go buy flowers.

  • MAKE: Your Own Festive Sporting Event

    Hold your own family Turkey Trot in the backyard or at a local park to work off some of the pie you just ate. Try a three-legged or sack race with the kids. Hosting your extended family and friends? Have a competitive game of flag football and reward the winning team with hot cocoa or warm cider.

  • MAKE: Blanket Fort

    If you can’t run from your relatives, you can hide. Let the kids make a blanket fort in a bedroom, away from the decorations and football games and adults. Let them pretend to be on the Mayflower heading for the New World or huddled in a log cabin trying to survive a New England winter.

  • Make a Fall Friend

  • READ: Sophie’s Squash

    by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

    Available from:

    Sophie has a very special friend named Bernice. Bernice, as it happens, is a butternut squash that Sophie saved from being baked with marshmallows. The wonderfully unique Sophie with her vertical pigtails and the gradually mushy and bumpy Bernice are certain to change your views on friendship — and maybe squash casserole too.

    Also available from:
  • MAKE: Leaf Place Cards

    Liven up the dinner table with place cards. Burn off some energy with a nature walk to collect colorful autumn leaves and then head inside to warm up and get creative!