Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. My participation in this program comes at no added cost to you, and helps support this blog. You can learn more about my participation in this program here.  

With Thanksgiving around the corner, check out these great books and activities! They are perfect for both homeschooling families, and those just looking for themed activities. 

Classic Handprint Turkey

If you grew up in the United States, you almost certainly have memories of doing handprint turkeys around Thanksgiving. The concept is simple; trace your hand, then add a beak and some legs. Voila! You have a turkey! 

As a mommy blogger, of course I have to give my own take on the project! 

The core concept remains the same, but I've added a few flairs of my own. Here is my take on the classic handprint turkey craft!

What you will need:

• White paper
• Brown paper
• Red, orange, and yellow paper
• Black and orange markers
• Scissors
• Glue

How to make your turkeys:

And that's it! Want to elaborate on this activity, or dress it up some? Try these great modifications:

1. Make it a writing activity (Version 1): Have your child write one thing they are grateful for on each feather.
2. Make it a writing activity (Version 2): Have your child write things they can do to show others they are thankful for them on each feather.
3. Make it a writing activity (Version 3): Instead of gluing the handprints on flat white paper, glue them on folded card stock. Your child can use these to write thank you cards to those they care about.
4. Make it a family memory: Make a family of turkeys! Have each family member make a handprint turkey, and glue them on a larger piece of paper. Have each family member sign their turkey, or use stencils or a calligraphy pen to label each one with their name. Write Thanksgiving [YEAR]  in decorative lettering, and frame as a Thanksgiving decoration/memento.
5. Make it a cherished memento: For a more stylish version: Use stretched canvas or wooded canvases and have your child make a handprint using paint. Then have them use tissue paper to create feathers. You can get ideas for products I've used for projects such as this here and here.
6. Make it a placemat: Just laminate once your child is done! 
   

Coloring Pages

No subscription needed for these great coloring pages!

Gratitude Journal/Collages

Create a family gratitude list or journal! You can do this in several ways. One is to use a nice journal or notebook, and add entries each day with what each family member is grateful for. Younger children can add drawings to the book. Another option is to create a scrapbook of collages with what each family member is grateful for. An alternate form of this activity is to have your child create a gratitude collage by printing pictures of things that symbolize what they are grateful for, and gluing them on paper. Older children can also add captions or printed words to their collages. Finally, you can also use my gratitude journal printables and put them in a binder using page protectors or just a 3 hole punch. 

Printables

If you are a newsletter subscriber, be sure to check out the Thanksgiving folder for some great new printables! Included are some velcro activities (I used them to make a Thanksgiving binder book game; you can get instructions on how to make one here), a counting worksheet, and gratitude journaling pages for the entire family!

Great Read: I am Thankful

I am Thankful is a new seasonal favorite in our home this year (both me and my child love it!). Featuring a diverse cast of characters, this relatable story discusses the many things children may experience as Thanksgiving traditions, and the many things (and people) they may be grateful for. The book also contains a variety of activities you can do. 

Other Highly Rated Thanksgiving Books Your Child Might Like!

Create Your Own Parade Floats

Using materials of your choice (boxes, plastic bottles, paper, pom poms, sequins, toys, balloons, etc.), create parade floats and put on your own Thanksgiving Parade around the house!

Baking

Baking is one of my favorite activities to do as a family, and Thanksgiving baking is no different. Check out some of my favorite recipes, or use your own!

• Pumpkin Muffins (Can also be used as a pumpkin bread recipe): This is my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe, and is kid tested (and approved!).
• Brownies: This brownie recipe is easy to make tree nut, peanut, and sesame free, and is well tested in our home. We use it regularly, and love it!
• Want more idea? I have a number of recipePinterest Boards, including:
  • Baking (content from other bloggers​)
  • General Recipes (content from other bloggers)

I'll be sharing even more soon!

Even More Ideas!

I love this turkey building activity from Beary Sweet Home. There are also tons of recommendations for other activities, books, and printables!

I also love this turkey weaving activity from The Growing Creatives (you can also find it pinned on my Pinterest).

You can also find a bunch of great activities on Amazon. Here are a few highly rated options your kids may love!

Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. My participation in this program comes at no added cost to you, and helps support this blog. You can learn more here.

Pumpkins might be one of my favorite parts of fall. So I've had a lot of fun designing pumpkin activities for my little one! 

Since I've been doing an alphabet themed month this September, I fit the pumpkin activities shared here in with the letters C (counting), F (fall), J (jack o lantern), P (pumpkin), O (orange), S (shapes​) and T (teal.... we are a food allergy family, after all!).

Counting/One to One Correspondence Activity

For our 10 Little Pumpkins activity we read 10 Little Pumpkins, and each time a new pumpkin was discussed in the story, added a pumpkin to our velcro board. At the end, when the "10 little pumpkins [roll] out of sight" we removed them all. You can find the printable for the velcro activity in the Resource Library, and the book (plus supplies to make the velcro activity) using the links below.

Older children can also use the velcro activity for counting; just ask them to place a specific number of pumpkins on the velcro board.

 Shape Activity and Craft

What you need:

Before doing this activity, we watched a great musical video from Sesame Street about all the shapes you can use to make a jack o lantern face. You can find that here.

Start the craft by painting the paper plate orange. Once dry, your child can glue shapes of their choice onto their 'pumpkin'. To make this a shape recognition activity, you can do the following:

• Ask your child to verbally label shapes as they select them.
• Ask your child to find different shapes (square, triangle, circle, etc.).
• Have your child sort the shapes you've cut out by type (square, triangle, circle, etc.).

​Letter Recognition Activity and Coloring Pages

You can find these activities in the Resource Library! To create the velcro activities seen above, be sure to check out the supplies recommended for the 10 Little Pumpkins activity above.

Craft

What you need:

• 3 Paper Plates
• Blue, Green and White Finger Paint (mix to create teal), or Teal Paint of Your Choice
• Brown Finger Paint (or paints to mix to make a brown color)
• Stapler or Glue
• Scissors

Cut out a stem from one paper plate. Paint brown. Paint the remaining two plates teal. Allow all pieces to dry. Then staple or glue two paper plates together, and then add the stem to the top. 

Add a Teal Pumpkin Project message if desired (you can even have your children write why the Teal Pumpkin Project matters to them and glue it to the center). 

What toddler doesn't love helping with baking! To celebrate the first day of fall, we baked pumpkin muffins using one of my favorite recipes (you can find that here). Baking helps children develop motor skills (pouring, mixing), teach about measuring and following directions, and helps teach cause and effect.

We also used it as a sensory activity by taste testing some of the ingredients (specifically the pumpkin puree, a tiny bit of sugar, and the orange juice, since my child doesn't drink juice yet). 

Pumpkin season has just barely begun! We have tons more pumpkin activities planned for this fall. Here are a few:

• Pumpkin Picking (we tried growing pumpkins, but they may not be ready before the ground freezes due to late planting, so we are planing to go to a pumpkin patch whether our pumpkins)
  
• Pumpkin Carving (I always roast the seeds after, but these are choking hazards for toddlers)
• Pumpkin Seed Sensory Bin (mix pumpkin seeds with other sensory bin items, such as sand, dry pasta or beans, etc.; then add Halloween trinkets, acorns, or other fun fall items)

Disclaimer: This post contains links to Amazon products. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. My participation in this program helps support this blog and has no added cost or strings attached for you. Click here to learn more. 

What kid doesn’t love a dirt cup? And just in time for beach season, here is a perfect take on this classic dessert. Use the ingredients and instructions below, or just get creative and have fun!

What you will need:

1. Clear plastic cups 
2. Vanilla/Gold/White cake, baked into cupcakes. Slice of top and crumble, leaving the bottoms of the cupcakes aside.
3. Chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies, crumbled
4. Something blue! Use cool whip, whip cream, or vanilla pudding with blue food dye or blue frosting.
5. Candy toppings: Swedish fish, ‘o’ shaped candy like lifesavers or gummy rings.
6. More decoration ideas: You can use pop up cocktail umbrellas or plastic beach decorations like these:

Click on images to view product pages. We've not used these items in our own home, but they have great reviews on Amazon and would be great additions to this project.

​You may also like the following products for this activity:

Click on images to view product pages. We've not used these items purchased from Amazon in our own home, but they have great reviews on Amazon and would be great additions to this project.

Instructions:

​In three easy steps your child can create this adorable and delicious beach themed dessert.

1. Place a cupcake bottom at the bottom of the plastic cup. 
2. Add a layer of “blue”, followed by a layer of crumbles of choice (cookie, cake, or both), and a second “blue”
3. Top with candy and decorations.
4. ENJOY!!!

Many readers already know baking is educational. Measuring helps teach fractions and fine motor skills. Baking helps teach sequences, following steps, highlights cause and effect, and for older children, gives the opportunity to practice reading skills. 

So, to use the sand cup activity as a homeschool activity, simply have your children help with baking!

You can use prompts below as a guide, and tailor them to your child's academic level:

1. Read the instructions. What is the first step?
2. First we pour 'x'. What comes next? 
3. We need [1/2 cup] of [sugar]. Let's look at the bottom number (the denominator). How many parts make a whole in this fraction? (Answer = 2). 
4. What temperature do we need to set the oven at? What do you think would happen if we set it higher? Lower?
5. Let's use the food dye to make new colors! What color do you think yellow and blue would make? What about red and blue? What would happen if we added more [red/blue/yellow/green] to this?
6. The recipe says to bake for 30 minutes? 30 minutes is how much of an hour? (Answer: 1/2 Hour). What if we baked for 15 minute? How many parts of an hour would that be (Answer: 1/4)? How many parts of 30 minutes is 15 minutes? (Answer 15/30, 1/2, etc.). 

​Love this? Be sure to share!