This Thankful Thanksgiving Tree Craft makes expressing gratitude fun, interactive, and creates a beautiful piece of art! Let the kids make this Thanksgiving Thankful Tree project on their own or do it together as a family.

One of our family traditions is to practice gratitude. When we are grateful for the things we have, we have enough.

We’ve tried a few Thanksgiving crafts over the years, but for this year, I’m LOVING this 3D version of a Thanksgiving Tree!

One of the things that we experience on Thanksgiving is that cooking the food (especially that turkey!) seems to take nearly forever. That’s why we try to plan some activities for our family while we wait.

Thanksgiving Tree Craft: A Way To Pass Time

When we’re hungry and smelling delicious food, it’s hard to stay patient until the food is ready, right?

So we plan things like a 5K walk, going to the nearby park, playing basketball in the driveway, playing ping pong or fuse ball in the basement, or crafts to keep us busy and entertained.

We’ve made turkey and pilgrim crafts and chocolate-covered turkey strawberries. We’ve colored Thanksgiving coloring pages and read Thanksgiving books.

This year, we want to acknowledge our gratitude by making this Thanksgiving thankful tree craft.

It’s a cinch to make and lets the kids (actually, the entire family) get hands-on with their expressing their gratitude.

And this Thanksgiving tree makes a terrific piece of handmade decor for the special day!

You can even add this one to your Thanksgiving table and let everyone add a word saying what they are thankful for this year.

​​Thankful Thanksgiving Tree Supplies Needed

Here’s what you’ll need to make this thankful tree craft.

• Paper Towel Roll
• Hot Glue
• Scissors
• Brown Paint
• Paint brush
• Fall craft leaves or make your own with construction paper
• Pipe cleaners if your leaves don’t have stems
• Dark colored markers

How To Make A Thanksgiving Tree

Here’s the entire process for making a thankful tree craft with your kids this holiday. You’ll love it so much it’ll become part of your holiday traditions!

1. Paint the outside of the paper towel roll, then let it dry.
2. Paint the inside of the roll about ⅓ of the way down from the top of the roll and let it dry.
3. While the paint is drying, use the marker to write one word on each leaf that represents what/who you are thankful for.
4. Leave some leaves blank for filling in the branches.
5. From the top of the paper towel roll that is painted on the inside, cut thin strips in varying lengths for the branches. Do NOT cut lower than the top ⅓ of the roll.
6. Glue one or two leaves with words onto the ends of each branch.
7. Fill the branches in with the blank leaves.

All done! Thanksgiving Trees make great centerpieces, gifts, family projects, or community/group projects. Give it a try this year!

If you want more activity ideas to keep the kids occupied and happy, grab our Cure Cabin Fever activity pack!

More Thanksgiving Inspiration

If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving inspiration after you make this Thanksgiving Tree Craft, check out these ideas!

• 21 of the Best Thanksgiving Books for Kids
• Ditch Hosting Stress With Our Hosting Thanksgiving Checklist
• The Best 15 Non Traditional Thanksgiving Side Dishes

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