Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate in the classroom than with some fun, techy activities! These ideas will have your students solving puzzles, getting creative, and expressing gratitude. Whether it’s a turkey escape room or designing a Macy’s Parade balloon, these activities are a fun way to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving.
10 interactive Thanksgiving activities for the classroom
1. Try a Turkey Trouble Escape Room
Oh dear! It’s that time again when your turkey friends find themselves in a heap of trouble. They’ve done their best to conceal themselves, but now they desperately need your assistance. It’s up to you to solve puzzles, gather clues and unlock the locks in order to help them escape.
View or download the PDF guide for our Turkey Trouble digital escape room which includes tips, links to both the Google and Microsoft versions, an answer key and more.
2. Build a “What I Am Thankful For” turkey with Google Slides
This awesome “What I Am Thankful For” Turkey activity comes from Eric Curts and can be found on his blog ControlAltAchieve. It’s super easy—students build their own turkey, and each feather represents something they’re thankful for on Google Slides.
The blog post comes with a tutorial video, step-by-step directions, and even a Google Slides template to get you started.
3. “Carve” and dress a turkey
On his blog, LearningInHand Tony Vincent shares three Thanksgiving ideas, you can try in your class or at home. Our favorite? Carve a turkey out of a graham crackers using your teeth, like Tony Vincent’s students did. Afterwards take photos of your creations and add details by drawing them in.
After carving, let students snap a photo of their graham cracker turkey and decorate it digitally using Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva. They could dress their turkeys as favorite characters, historical figures, or in fun disguises!
4. Learn about Thanksgiving traditions
Check out the article from National Geographic kids to learn more about those Thanksgiving traditions then use an AI tool to create interactive resources like the ones below:
5. Design a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.
6. Write a gratitude poem
7. The “First Thanksgiving”: How Can We Tell a Better Story?
In this activity from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian students will participate in a class discussion about how national stories can leave out important details, exaggerate events, and be one-sided. They will also make predictions about how and why the story of the “First Thanksgiving” is incomplete. The lesson includes videos and digital activities you can copy and assign to students.
8. Listen and respond to Turkey Trouble
9. Disguise a Turkey on Google Slides
10. Get your heart pumping with a PE gratitude game
This PE activity choice board, from LaDonda Porter, puts a fun and interactive Thanksgiving spin on some PE activities. There are 6 activities, one for each letter in the word THANKS. In groups students will click on the die to roll it then do the activity they rolled.
