Thanksgiving Activity for Toddlers – Easy Feather Poke

Skills: Sensory Play

Ages: 12 Months +

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

toddler poking colored feathers into a cardboard box turkey with googly eyes

This Thanksgiving activity for toddlers is all about giving the turkey its feathers back.

It is an easy set-up to work on fine motor skills, especially hand-eye coordination — and a cardboard box is all you need.

All activities should be supervised by an adult. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links.

Transform a Cardboard Box into a Turkey

It takes all of a few minutes to set up and it certainly does not have to look fancy, but a cardboard box is all you need to create your very own turkey for play.

Toddlers and young preschoolers will be able to visualize the task after seeing those googly eyes, and feel inspired to give that turkey its feathers back.

If this is a hit

Like it was for us, you will have to try our Poke the Animals activities, free printable included, where kids use dull toothpicks or cotton swabs to give prickly animals their spikes back.

Watch This Thanksgiving Toddler Activity in Action

In this video you will see my son, 3 years old at the time, enjoy placing feathers into the cardboard turkey one at a time. The concentration on his face says everything — mouth open, tongue slightly out, he is in the zone. Coordinating his eyes and hands to poke the feathers into the tiny holes is tricky, but he is so proud when he completes the game.

This Activity Can Be Fun for Babies Too

baby pulling feathers out of a white colander on a blanket outside

Want to save even more time? Skip the cardboard box and grab a colander or pasta strainer instead. Toddlers and preschoolers can poke the feathers into the small holes, and babies can enjoy this too — instead of poking the feathers in, they get to pull them out.

It is always fun for young kids to do any activity with feathers because they are full of a wide variety of textures. On one end they are soft, and on the other end they are pointy.

Materials

What you need

Cardboard Box
Feathers
Googly Eyes
Paper
Felt
Glue

Paper or felt, whichever you have. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Poke the holes

Grab a small cardboard box and poke some holes in it.
Make the face

Cut out a circle for the face of the turkey, then add the eyes plus a triangular nose and red wattle out of felt or colored paper.
Hand over the feathers

Provide the feathers and task the kiddos with giving the turkey its feathers back.

More Thanksgiving Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

thanksgiving printable activities worksheets for toddlers and preschoolers

This activity is all about fine motor skills, but let us have more fun with Turkey Day. We have a bundle of Thanksgiving worksheets that are great for toddlers and preschoolers to learn a dozen early childhood education skills — from scissor skills to tracing, alphabet and number recognition, matching, writing and phonics, all with a Thanksgiving twist.

Get the bundle

For even more Thanksgiving activities, visit our comprehensive list.