Thanksgiving Printables for Preschoolers: 10 Easy Ideas for the Kids' Table and the Hour Before Dinner

The turkey is in the oven, the relatives are on their way, and a 3-, 4- or 5-year-old is wondering when it's time to eat. A few printable pages and some crayons can give them something to do at the kids' table, on a blanket in the corner, or while you stir the gravy.

Below are 10 Thanksgiving printable ideas for preschoolers, a guide to picking pages that suit ages 3 to 5, and a simple way to set up a small table. Most need just a printer, paper and crayons.

What makes a good Thanksgiving printable for a preschooler?

A good page for ages 3 to 5 has one clear task, big shapes and simple pictures. If your child has to wait for you to explain it, it's too much. Look for pages where the task is shown with a picture.

Before you hit print, check a few things:

• Black and white works. It saves color ink, and the crayons add the color.
• Few words. The page should make sense from the pictures alone.
• One page, one job. A maze, a tracing page or a color-by-key page each does one thing, so it's clear when it's finished.
• Large areas to color. A tiny turkey with fine feather detail is frustrating. Pick bigger shapes for 3-year-olds.
• Not too busy. Leaves, pumpkins and corn are enough. You don't need a page full of tiny scenes.

10 Thanksgiving printable ideas for preschoolers

1. Color the turkey by the key

A big turkey with a small symbol in each feather, and a key that shows which crayon goes where. It's an easy page to start with, and the finished turkey looks nice on the table as a placemat. Choose one with large feathers.

2. A maze to the pie

A wide path from a start picture to a slice of pie. Look for one clear way through and room for a fat crayon. For 3-year-olds, wide paths matter more than clever ones.

3. Count the pumpkins

A page with things to find and count, such as pumpkins and leaves. Pick one with just a few things to count, such as four pumpkins and three leaves.

4. Dot-to-dot leaf

Numbers 1 to 10, then a leaf appears. If counting to ten is still new, trace the first few dots together, then step back.

5. Find the shadow

Pictures of an acorn, a leaf and an ear of corn on one side, their dark shadows on the other. Your child draws a line from each picture to its shadow.

6. Trace the falling leaves

Straight lines, waves and loops to trace with a crayon, with a few leaves for decoration. It's a gentle warm-up and a good way to practice holding a crayon.

7. Cut-and-glue feathers

A turkey with a few simple feathers to cut out and glue on. If your child is new to scissors, you do the cutting and your child does the gluing. Please stay close while your child cuts.

8. Draw your own place cards (no printer needed)

Fold a piece of paper into a tent. Your child draws a leaf or a pumpkin on the front, and you write each guest's name. The kids' table gets its own special touch.

9. "I'm thankful for..." drawing (no printer needed)

A blank page and crayons. Ask your child to draw one thing they like, and you write what it is. Tuck the pages away and look at them again next year.

10. Leaf rubbings

Real leaves from the yard, a sheet of thin paper and a crayon with the paper peeled off. Lay the leaf under the paper and rub. It's a nice quick one to do outside before dinner.

How many pages should I print?

Three to five pages are plenty for one sitting. Print a few, not the whole stack, so the next ones feel new. Slip them in a folder with crayons, show your child the first page once, and then step back.

A few ways to keep it fresh:

• Rotate. Use two or three pages at the start of the day and save the others for later.
• Mix easy and a little harder. Begin with an easy page so it feels like a win.
• Let them choose. Fan out three pages and let your child pick the order.
• Slip a page into a sheet protector. Use a dry-erase marker with a grown-up nearby, so your child can do the same maze again.

How to set up a kids' table

A simple way to do it:

1. Pick the spot. A small table, a coffee table or a blanket, where you can see everyone.
2. Fill a folder per child. Three to five pages, a few crayons and a pencil for you to write names.
3. Keep the crayons simple. One small cup or bag per child is enough.
4. Save a few for later. Keep two pages in your bag for the stretch after the meal, when the grown-ups are still talking.
5. Traveling to the host's house? The Crayon Hour Travel Pack, a $7 add-on at checkout, has 20 half-page activities that need just crayons: no scissors, no glue. It comes with any pack, not sold by itself.

Please stay close with younger children: crayons and cut-out pieces can end up in mouths. Our pages are made for ages 3 to 5.

Try pages like these for free

Most of the ideas above are page types, and our packs don't include Thanksgiving-themed pages. If you'd like to try the same kind of page (picture instructions, one clear task, black-and-white friendly), you can get 7 free pages from The Crayon Hour for ages 3 to 5. They aren't holiday-themed, but they show whether your child likes this kind of page before you print more. The 7 pages are:

• a maze
• color by the key
• trace a letter
• find and count
• connect the dots, 1 to 10
• find the shadow
• cut and glue

The cut-and-glue page uses scissors and a glue stick: please stay close while your child cuts.

If you'd like more variety, the full Quiet Time packs from The Crayon Hour have 48 to 240+ pages, from $17. They aren't Thanksgiving-themed, but they include mazes, tracing, dot-to-dot, find and count and shadow matching pages.

For afternoons at home, see more ideas for busy afternoons. Restaurant Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers has ideas for waiting at a table.

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