If you are looking for some simple writing activities to add a little fun around Thanksgiving time, I’ve got you covered. One easy way to include some fun in your homeschool around Thanksgiving is during writing time. Kids can still work on writing AND celebrate the upcoming holiday with these Thanksgiving writing activities. Plus, I include a few Thanksgiving decorative papers if your kids already have some writing ideas in mind.
So what will you find for Thanksgiving writing activities?
Table of Contents
- Thanksgiving Writing Activity #1
- Thanksgiving Writing Activity #2
- Writing Activity #3
- “I Am Thankful” Writing Activities #4
- Thanksgiving Writing Paper
Thanksgiving Writing Activity #1
Well, in the first activity, your kids can write about a Thanksgiving feast. You can do a mini-lesson on the five senses and have your kiddos include their senses while describing their meal.
How to do the Mini-Lesson
- First, I would start with a blank sheet of paper, a whiteboard or chalkboard, and a pencil/marker.
- Next, write down five categories: taste, smell, hear, feel, see. You can make boxes, speech bubbles or create a diagram with these five categories.
- Now start with one of the senses. Have your kids brainstorm. For example, you can ask them to describe how things will taste on Thanksgiving. They may give examples like buttery rolls, delicious turkey, tart cranberries, or simply yummy potatoes.
- After you’ve brainstormed ideas for each category, your kids can begin writing their Thanksgiving meal.
However, you can let kids come up with their own ideas for a meal. For example, maybe they don’t like turkey and would have hamburgers. Let them have fun and get creative with whatever they would like to eat. My son would probably talk about rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
With older kids, I’d really focus on the senses. For example, if they seem to be listing foods, have them zoom in on a few foods and add details on how they look, smell, taste, etc., to help add more description. So if your child put they would eat yummy mashed potatoes, you can have them expand it further. They may say something like, “I would have yummy mashed potatoes. The creamy, steaming potatoes would have melted butter running down the mounds onto my plate….” You get the picture.
Thanksgiving Writing Activity #2
I think this next activity can be a lot of fun. Here kids come up with their own recipe card with ingredients and directions on cooking a turkey.
How to Start This Lesson
- If your children are unfamiliar with recipes, get out a cookbook and discuss the parts of a recipe.
- After they have looked at recipes, with younger kids, I would write down on a sheet of paper or on the board to remind them recipes have: ingredients, measurements, oven temperature, step-by-step directions, and how long to cook.
Once they write out their turkey recipes, you can show your kiddos the one you use or different examples. If you have older kids, you can compare their recipe to an actual turkey recipe and see if it would work. Do they have it cooking long enough? Is their temperature high enough or too high? This can be a lot of fun to compare.
Don’t worry if kids don’t end up with a proper recipe. It is just for fun. Your kids will probably have a good laugh looking at what they wrote several years down the road.
Writing Activity #3
In this next Thanksgiving writing activity, there are two pages. The first page is a turkey. First, kids will decorate the turkey. Then they will draw in the background. They need a setting for their turkey to help with the second part of the assignment.
The second sheet is a blank page to write a story about their turkey.
Teaching Tips
If you have younger kids that can’t write, they can decorate their picture and dictate a story to you. After you write down their story, read it back to them. Then, for a little extra learning, your child can highlight the words they can read for themselves and read those words as you reread the story.
Now, if you have a child that doesn’t like drawing, they can skip that part and go straight to writing a story. They can do their own brainstorming sheet (since they don’t have a picture page that helped them brainstorm) if they need to.
You can adjust this however you need for your kids.
“I Am Thankful” Writing Activities #4
It is Thanksgiving time, so I’ve included an “I am Thankful” activity. There are two options. The first one, kids can write out a narrative about the things they are thankful for. Plus, you can have them explain why they are grateful for these things too. This is a good option for older kids or strong writers.
The second option allows younger kids to fill in four boxes with words or pictures (or dictate to a parent). Sometimes when kids struggle with writing, I will write down what they say on another sheet of paper and have them copy it on their paper. This way, they practice writing and seeing how words are spelled.
Thanksgiving Writing Paper
The last three sheets I have included are writing papers. They are blank, so kids can write their own stories, poems, lists, etc. You can use these decorative sheets for your own writing assignments or allow your kids to use them throughout November. You can mix and match sheets, print them out double-sided, or use them however you’d like. It is up to you.
Now, download your FREE writing activities and paper below.
Need more Thanksgiving or even fall ideas? You might like: Preparing For Thanksgiving: 5 Easy Ways Kids Can Help and 20 Fall Writing Prompts.
I hope as Thanksgiving nears, you and your kiddos find some time to add in some fun. These Thanksgiving writing activities and decorative paper may be just the thing to break up the monotony. Enjoy these free printables. You may use them with your family, co-op, classroom, etc. However, you may not resell them.
Happy Homeschooling!
