This Thanksgiving turkey sensory activity is a fun way to keep your kids occupied this holiday season. Sensory bins offer hands-on, exploratory options that help develop your children’s minds.
Want another fun Thanksgiving activity for kids? Check out this simple turkey craft.
Thanksgiving Turkey Sensory Activity
What are the benefits of sensory bins for kids?
- Enhanced Sensory Development: They engage multiple senses—touch, sight, smell, and sometimes sound—helping children develop their sensory processing skills.
- Fine Motor Skills: Manipulating small objects in the bin promotes dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
- Cognitive Skills: Exploring different materials encourages problem-solving and critical thinking as children experiment with textures and shapes.
- Language Development: Describing what they feel and see can boost vocabulary and communication skills.
- Creativity and Imagination: Sensory bins provide an open-ended play experience that encourages imaginative thinking.
- Emotional Regulation: They can be calming and provide a safe space for kids to express feelings and reduce anxiety.
As you can see, there are so many benefits to this activity. Pulling out sensory bins and playing during the holidays adds a sense of tradition, which builds memories and a sense of family.
While I always encourage you to engage with your kids, it’s also important and helpful to have independent play activities. The great thing about this turkey sensory bin is that it can be either an activity to do together or something to keep them occupied while you do the other 100 things on your to-do list.
How is this sensory activity different from a craft? It is different because there is no end product stuck together with adhesive. Of course, that would be a fine option. That said, the beauty of this activity is that kids can explore over and over again with different choices, textures, and colors without needing to commit to one.
Supplies Needed for this Thanksgiving Turkey Sensory Activity
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All of these supplies can be in the beautiful fall colors of orange, brown, and red. That said, it could also be fun to do funky turkeys in other colors.
How to Make This Turkey Sensory Bin
- Prepare the felt turkeys by cutting out turkey bodies in the felt. Don’t overthink this step – a basic head and body will do.
- Cut pipe cleaners into 1-2 inch pieces.
- Make different piles of the materials to use. You could do one fall-colored assortment of craft materials and another pile of a broader array of colors if kids want to think out-of-the-box with their designs. With creativity, there are not supposed to be too many rules. You will have kids who naturally gravitate to trying to be exact in their design vs. others who want to explore different options.
Tips/Play Suggestions:
- There is no right way to make the turkey. Kids can build a standard turkey if they want, but encourage them to be silly and creative if they want to.
- Encourage kids to get more involved by naming their turkey. They can also come up with a story centered around their turkey if they want.
- Get a variety of pom poms with different sizes, shapes, colors, and textures. This will encourage sensory play as kids describe the characteristics of each pom pom they use. The same goes for the pipe cleaners.
- This is designed to be a repeatable activity, so no glue or tape is used. After you are done, all the parts can go into a baggie to be played with again later.
- Kids might decide to glue together their favorite designs. That’s great too.
- If you do glue together the turkey, kids can use them for creative play and interaction,
Want More Turkey-Themed Crafts and Activities?
