Looking for some fun and festive gross motor activities for your kids this Thanksgiving?
We have prepared a list of turkey gross motor activities for your children that can be done indoors or outdoors, but not only for Thanksgiving Day.
They will get them up and moving, and they may even learn a few things along the way. It’s a fun and effective way to improve their gross motor development.
Thanksgiving Gross Motor Activities
Turkey time is upon us! Let’s tune in for Thanksgiving Day with a few gross motor games we have listed below. These fun ideas will keep the children active during the holidays.
Feed The Turkey – Color Matching Turkey Activities for Toddlers
This fun activity will not only occupy the children for a while, but it’s also a great opportunity to practice color sorting.
What will you need?
What to do?
To get started draw as many turkeys on the sidewalk as you like, and mark them with different colors. I drew only three and put a group of colors on each turkey.
We used ball pit balls to represent the colors, but you can use something else like bean bags or bowling pins in different colors.
Throw some toy foods all around the backyard. Let your child run and pick up the toy food one by one and place them on the right turkey with a matching color.
You can make the game more difficult with an obstacle course. Once you have a good selection, it’s time to enjoy your real Thanksgiving feast!
Throw the Food to Chef Turkey – Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten
Kids will have a blast with this great activity that’s perfect for Thanksgiving and that will keep the little ones entertained.
What will you need?
- Printable Template
- Playdough
- Construction paper in different colors
- Skewers
- Clear tape
- Toy food
- Toy fork and spoon
What to do?
Print the template for the turkey’s head. The turkey body is formed from a big piece of playdough. Our homemade play dough is a handy resource for such a purpose, and we have a recipe for salt dough as well.
Stick the head to the playdough, then a fork and spoon. To make the feather, you will need to fold a cone from construction paper and tape it.
Place a skewer inside the cone sticking out a piece through the tip, then tape the skewer to the cone to secure it.
Then stab it into the playdough turkey body. Repeat it a few times, depending on how many feather cones you plan to have.
How to play?
Place the turkey on a side table and place the toy foods around the room.
The object of this gross motor game is to throw the toy food one by one so that they land in the turkey’s feathers. Once they manage to throw the toy in, you can turkey trot around the room.
This Thanksgiving activity is excellent for gross motor skills, and a fun way to enjoy the holiday!
Sidewalk Thanksgiving Games for Preschoolers
This is a fun outdoor Thanksgiving activity for improving gross motor skills.
Enjoy the crisp fall weather with your kids while spending time together outdoors.
What will you need?
What to do?
Draw a turkey body using the chalk, but draw a long line instead of each feather. Put the feathers in a bowl and place them on the turkey’s belly.
Let your toddler pick up the turkey feathers one by one and place them along the line. They will have to trace the line and keep their balance.
Bigger kids can jump on one leg tracing the line for practicing more complicated gross motor skills.
Add a little running to this game and let them pick up some leaves from the backyard for the turkey tail.
Traffic Light Thanksgiving Movement Games
This turkey gross motor activity is perfect for getting those little legs moving and for playing a little bit outdoors in a park or in the backyard.
This activity will also give them an opportunity to practice some fine motor skills.
What will you need?
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Construction paper (red, brown, orange, yellow, green)
- Clear tape
- Flower foam
- Leaves
- Flashlight
- Printable turkey template
- Toothpicks
What to do?
First, grab a piece of cardboard and cut out tree circles. Cut out half circles from construction paper but slightly bigger than the holes in the cardboard.
The craft papers will be the colors of your traffic light. I matched red and brown, yellow and orange, light green and dark green, then taped them on the holes.
Print the turkey template and cut it out. You can add googly eyes too. Attach the picture to the flower foam with toothpicks.
Once everything is set you can go outside and start playing.
How to play?
You will have to control the traffic light with the help of a flashlight. Depending on what color will light up, the child will have to pick leaves in those colors for the turkey feather.
Once the leaves are found, let them stick to the flower foam to get the turkey’s feathers.
Mini Golf – Thanksgiving Games for Classroom
This is one of the most useful ideas to keep your kids entertained while you’re busy preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Or who knows, you might even get a little competitive yourself!
What will you need?
- Printable turkey template
- Cardboard box
- Scissors
- Ball pit balls
- Wooden Spoons
What to do?
Print out the turkey template and glue it onto the box. Cut out a big hole in the belly area.
Set up the box in your living room, backyard, or wherever you have enough space.
Spread ball pit balls around the room. Use the wooden spoons as golf clubs to push the balls into the box through the hole.
Your kids will have a blast hitting the balls around the house and trying to get them into the turkey-shaped hole and working on their gross motor skills.
Thanksgiving Themed Paper Plate Memory Game
Certainly, one of the best ways to show gratitude, especially around Thanksgiving, is by playing games together with your family.
This Thanksgiving theme paper plate memory game is the perfect way to get everyone involved in the holiday festivities.
What will you need?
- Printable templates
- Paper plates
- Coloring pencils or markers
- Glue or tape
What to do?
Print out the templates, have the children color them (practicing little fine motor skills too), and then glue them onto the paper plates.
Then let the game begin and have fun matching up all the different Thanksgiving images.
There will be a good deal of walking around and bending throughout this gross motor activity.
