As soon as the spooky Halloween and Day or the Dead holidays pass, homes and businesses bring out the turkeys and reindeer. The nights get longer, but brighten with colorful lights and warm fires. People start thinking about thankfulness and gift giving.
Help kids get into the spirit of thankfulness and giving with fun printable crafts, coloring pages, and activity sheets.
Thanksgiving and Gratitude
Thanksgiving Day is a tradition celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday in November. Your children may enjoy learning about Thanksgiving history and traditional activities. The tradition traces its origins to a harvest feast and celebration of thanksgiving held by the pilgrim settlers of the Plymouth Plantation in 1621. They survived their first season with help from Squanto, a Wampanoag Indian who taught them to catch eel and grow corn, and from Massassoit, the Wampanoag tribal leader who donated food to the colony when their initial stores were insufficient.
Christmas and Gift Giving
Christmas Day is a Christian holiday observed annually on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Christmas celebrations often include traditions from various winter solstice festivals and folklore such as the story of Santa Claus. You might consider how to answer the Santa question.
You and your children may enjoy making 3D snowflakes from gift wrap.
Holiday Printables for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah
ColoringPages24.com will publish a new holiday coloring page every day from November 21 thru Christmas.
AtoZTeacherStuff.com provides Christmas activities, color pages, shapebooks, word searches, border pages, wish lists, and countdown calendars, which could all work well for use in holiday lapbooks. To find the free Christmas printables on A to Z Teacher Stuff:
- Click on the Printables tab.
- In the side menu, find "Theme-Related."
- Click "Christmas."
Related themes include "Winter" and "Pumpkins." Find "Thanksgiving" in the main list. The first couple of items in each area tend to point to store items, but the majority of items in each list are usually free.
ABCTeach.com provides a selection of free theme units including pilgrims, pumpkins, scarecrows, and Native Americans, as well as a whole section of Thanksgiving activity sheets and coloring pages, including cross words, shape books, book report forms, spelling lists, word searches, signs, and writing prompts.
ABC Teach also provides a large Christmas section with a variety of activity sheets and coloring pages, including Polar Express theme pages, mazes, writing prompts, scrambled words, and stories. Coloring pages include Christian and secular images (angels, baby Jesus, Advent wreaths and candles, bells, trees, ornaments, wise men, etc.)
ColoringCastle.com provides a selection of large, simple printable coloring pages, including sections on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah.
Michaels.com provides a Football Turkey for Thanksgiving sports fans, along with Hanukkah and Christmas offerings.
Coloring pages and activity sheets are a fun and easy way to help kids get into the holiday spirit, whichever holiday or special days they celebrate.
Coming up: Valentine's Day Printables.
You might also enjoy:
- The Truth About Thanksgiving for Kids
- Homeschooling: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving
- Happy Birthday, Mark Twain!
Sara McGrath - Sara is a veteran homeschool mom of three, Usborne consultant, and the author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning.
Join the Conversation