**This blog post about Thanksgiving Fine Motor Activities includes affiliate links.**
I don’t know about you, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I can’t resist a chance to put together some fine motor activities with all the turkeys, acorns, and more! I came up with 10 Thanksgiving fine motor activities that we’re going to be rocking in our classroom as soon is Halloween is over! Want to see what we’re up to? Check out these easy to prep and sure to love fine motor activities!
1. Now and Then Clothesline
When has laundry ever been more fun? I put together this quick activity by printing and laminating some clothing pieces. Then I put them in a bin with some clothespins. I grabbed a pasta drying rack and my students have been hanging the clothes to the pasta rack with the clothespins.
2. Thanksgiving Puzzles
These puzzles are always a hit. They’re from my Grab and Go Scissor Skills Boxes. There are 18 different puzzles in 2 piece, 3 piece, and 5 piece formats for students to cut and paste to assemble. These boxes are great practice for my students who are working on cutting a straight line.
3. Woven Placemat
I’m pretty sure this is a classic Thanksgiving time fine motor activity. I made a quick printing template so that my students are super successful with this activity that you can grab in the resource library! To get prepared, I copied the template onto some construction paper and cut some additional strips of paper. Then my students folded their placemat in half and cut the lines on the paper. After that, they used the strips of paper to weave in and out on the placemat. Some of my students work on identifying colors during this task while others practice making patterns. Then we save the placemats for our Friendship Feast at the end of the month.
4. Turkey Hole Punch Cards
You know we’re still working hard on counting in our classroom. These hole punch cards are some of our favorites. I print them out on colored paper, give them a quick cut, and provide my students with a hole punch (they love thematic shaped hole punches, too!). The students find the number on the card and punch that many holes into the paper.
5. Acorn Drop
I think I always prep a fine motor activity with tweezers or tongs. They’re such a great tool to get my students hands really working. To prepare this take, I got a muffin tin, some mini acorns, a bin to place them in, and some tongs. My students will take the acorns from the bin and transfer them to the muffin tin. Sometimes we’ll practice counting acorns as we transfer them to the tin.
6. Set the Table Craft
We’re working towards cutting out complex shapes in some of our fine motor groups, so this activity is going to be tons of fun! This activity is one of our favorites from my scissor skills boxes. I copied the dinner table templates for my students and trimmed them down. Then I copied some food pieces that my students will color and cut out to put on the table. They love setting their own table for Thanksgiving. We also take time to practice some of our Thanksgiving vocabulary by naming the items or receptively identifying the food items to put on the table.
7. Turkey Feather Painting
Anytime my students are able to bust out the paint it’s pretty safe to say they’re a happy group! Since we’re all about turkeys right now I made this quick turkey pattern that you can grab in the resource library. After running them off I grabbed some paint and cotton swabs. My students practice requesting colors to complete this task and fill in the turkey’s feathers.
8. Turkey in the Grass
This quick prep activity is another favorite from my scissor skills boxes. I copy and cut the turkey page then I copy the grass template onto green paper. Each student colors their turkey then snips the grass so their turkey can hide behind the grass.
9. Turkey Treats
It’s time to plump those turkeys up for Thanksgiving (I think that’s what all the meat eaters do, right?). This activity is so easy prep and my students LOVE it! In fact, they love it so much it migrated to our play area after we were introduced to it in the fine motor center! To prepare this activity I printed the bottle wrap from my resource library and rounded up a bunch of things for the turkey to eat (mini acorns, pom poms, beads, etc.). Then I grabbed some tongs and my students use the tongs to feed all of the yummy stuff to the turkey. They love seeing him “get stuffed” and dumping him out when we’re done.
10. Feather Threading
This is a fun and easy activity my students love. There’s something about feathers that is just so much fun! I love that these feathers really have my students pinching to thread them through the tubes. To get this project ready, I grabbed some old toilet paper tubes and used a hole punch to make holes all over the tube. Then my students take feathers and thread them into one hole and out of the other one.
These are 10 of my favorite Thanksgiving fine motor activities. Ready to grab them for your classroom? Unlock them in the resource library!
