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Thanksgiving Bucket List for Kids

Thanksgiving is such a special time of year for the whole family!

But before you pull up to the table to enjoy your delicious Thanksgiving feast, consider the days of planning leading up to the special day, and how to keep kids busy once school lets out!


Children are always looking for things to keep them busy! I don’t know how they can go and go and seemingly never be tired, but I guess if we were learning to do new things every day, and our brains were growing as fast as theirs, we would be just as energetic and enthusiastic.


However, this means boredom can set in, and particularly when school is out for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving is also a very exciting time where family might be coming to visit, or we are packing up to travel and visit our loved ones.

Not only can a Thanksgiving Bucket List help to keep those little ones busy while we get our home ready for family and guests, but it can also teach children about the important values of Thanksgiving, such as thankfulness, gratitude, and family.

One of the best reasons to have a separate list of Children’s activities for Thanksgiving is to make them feel involved in the season. Sometimes children spend long hours at the kids’ table while grown-ups talk and talk. Make family friendly activities, having fun, and enjoying one another is a top priority on Thanksgiving.


You can sit down and create your own Thanksgiving Bucket List, or just use THIS ONE – we will deliver it right to your inbox so that you can start using it.

When creating a Thanksgiving Bucket List:

  • Think about family traditions. If your celebration involves multiple generations or multiple families, think of activities that different age groups will find fun.


  • Think about places that your kids do not get to visit often (a particular library, park, farm etc)



  • Think about materials that your child may not have worked with a lot (so it is new to them), and that are seasonal in nature (i.e. crunchy leaves)


  • Talk about your Thanksgiving dinner. Talk to children about where food comes from and how it was prepared. Everyone can talk about the interesting growing process of pumpkins, or the difference between Yams and Sweet Potatoes.


  • Create something for Thanksgiving together. Doing a Thanksgiving themed craft or activity is a great way to celebrate and enjoy family time all together.

If you are looking for a way to keep many kids entertained, then this Thanksgiving Bucket List is just the list you need.



These activities will help you how to keep a toddler entertained, keep a 1 year old busy, keep a 2 year old from climbing EVERYTHING or how to keep a 3 year old occupied. School aged children can use the ideas on the Thanksgiving Bucket List to do something together with their younger siblings or cousins.

Having a Thanksgiving Bucket List of activities can expose the little ones to different environments and places that may not see every day. Best of all: no screens! (Keep screen time in your pocket for those moments when you really need it.) In our house, we don’t really count a family movie all together as screen time.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year, coming up with ideas to entertain everyone, particularly the kids, can be exhausting.

You might need this Thanksgiving Bucket List because you simply need a mom break from the cleaning and shopping and prepping that the holiday season brings.

Many of the Thanksgiving and Fall Kids’ Activities on this list are educational activities, too.


Make sure to have this Thanksgiving Bucket List delivered to your inbox today for easy use.



Thanksgiving Bucket List

  • Give a pumpkin a bath

  • Thanksgiving Word Search

  • Play hide and seek with flashlights

  • Go on a nature walk (collect fall treasures)

  • Bake Pumpkin muffins

Check out this Article for a collection of the BEST Pumpkin Muffin Recipes


  • Share and donate. Thanksgiving is a celebration of sharing. Develop a tradition of sharing with those who have less and involve children in contributing to the food bank, or donating too small clothes and toys that are not played with anymore.




  • Bake cookies for a friend

  • Make fall holiday cards to mail to friends and family

  • Visit a farm

  • Go for a walk in the rain or snow

  • Paint a pumpkin with washable paint (then give them a bath)

  • Bake Banana Bread

This is hands down the BEST, MOIST Banana Bread Recipe


  • Build a fall-themed sensory bin

  • Have an indoor picnic on a stormy day



  • Use pillows and blankets to build a cozy reading fort. Give each child a small flashlight and take turns reading picture books, or reading alone (age dependent). We love these mini projectors where the kids can take turns projecting images inside their blanket fort.



  • Visit the library

  • Practice cutting and gluing with leaves




  • Make homemade Gingerbread scented play-dough

Don’t forget to have this Thanksgiving Bucket List delivered to your inbox today for easy use.


PIN IT and share it with a fellow Mom as well to help save her sanity and make Thanksgiving a beautiful and stress-free holiday to enjoy with family.




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