25 Free Things To Do Over Thanksgiving Break With Kids

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Looking for free things to do over Thanksgiving break? It’s almost Thanksgiving and that means it’s almost Thanksgiving break from school. Which also means, you will have about a week off with the kids huh?

Are you just now realizing you will need some ideas of free things to do with the kids over Thanksgiving break? Well, you’re welcome. I’m glad I could remind you that you have a week off with the kids and lots of time to find things to do (sorry)! Not to worry, I’ve got you covered! Keep reading for a full list of free things to do over Thanksgiving break.

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Free Things To Do Over Thanksgiving Break

Not to worry! I’m here to help! I’ve come up with a list of free things you can do with your kids during Thanksgiving break and I promise, you will like at least a few of them!

Let’s be honest – when you really start to plan Thanksgiving break, you don’t have to fill an entire week with fun things to do because Thursday is Thanksgiving, and will be filled with Thanksgiving activities.

Oh no, don’t tell me you forgot about that too? Yes, Thanksgiving is coming, and yes, you will be busy on Thanksgiving, I’m sure. You know, all that cooking that needs to be done – remember? So, we won’t even try to find anything to do that day with the kids – ok? Hopefully they will have a bunch of family or friends to play with and will stay out of your hair!!

You Only Need To Plan For 3 Days Of Fun

Let’s focus on the other days that week. Starting on Friday – well, it depends on what type of person you are, because that’s Black Friday, and you just might be so busy shopping all night long that you won’t even get out of bed that day!

Quick pause, take a wild guess what type of shopper I am? Do you think I go nuts on Black Friday? Or do I fully relax and enjoy my Thanksgiving and not even think about doing any Black Friday shopping?

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You guessed it. I’m a crazy Black Friday shopper! Actually I’m some where in the middle. I love to get good deals, but I don’t think they always have the best deals that day – it’s a lot of hype for sure. There are some amazing deals to be found, but you have to be careful not to buy just to buy.

What I love about Black Friday – when my in-laws are visiting (which sadly won’t happen this year) is that they are more than happy to stay with my kids so that me and my husband can go shopping all night long, which we love to do! It’s one of my favorite nights of the year, because my husband is really fun to shop with!

Thanksgiving Break Of Fun

But, I digress. Back to my post about free things to do over Thanksgiving break.

Technically, you only need to plan 3 days of fun things – which, good news mom, is NOT a full week’s worth of activities and is totally doable as long as they are free activities. We can do this! I’m in the same boat as you, I’ll have all 3 of my kids home, and hopefully they all will be up for some fun activities that won’t break the bank.

Below are a bunch of ideas of free things to do over Thanksgiving break with your kids:

25 Free Things To Do Over Thanksgiving Break:

Play Thanksgiving Themed Games: Snag our free Roll A Feast dice game. It’s a printable family-friendly Thanksgiving themed dice game that you can play with up to 14 players.
Host a Thankful Tea Party: Have your kids help by serving the tea and food. Or better yet, take the same idea and host a Thankful Tea Party for your kids and their friends! Invite a couple moms to help you!
Thankful Turkey Tablecloth: Spend some time with your kids making a Thankful Turkey Tablecloth to focus on all the things you are thankful for.
Snow Ball Fight: Call friends and have a snow ball fight and hot cocoa party
Make Fall Scented Playdough.
Thanksgiving STEM Activities: Try out these STEM activities for your older kids
Fall Crafts: Make these 3 fall crafts with your kids.
Pine Cone Craft: Make peanut butter pine cone bird feeder. Or, if you don’t like using pine cones, you can Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders!
Paint The Snow
Walk in the Woods: Go for a walk in the woods and collect pine cones.
Pine Cone Turkeys: After you collect pine cones, make a turkey from the pine cones!
Learn To Code: Help your older kids learn to code HTML with this free Thanksgiving Coding Tutorial!
Play With Leaves: Rake leaves and then jump into them.
Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt: Plan a neighborhood scavenger hunt for your kids and their friends – super easy – take a quick walk around your neighborhood and jot down things they can find along the way and then make a list and have your kids and their friends go find those things. Once they find the item, they must take photo by it! Example of things to find: fire hydrant, stop sign, house with a 3 in the address, pumpkin..etc.
Thanksgiving Cookie Decorating Party: – bake a bunch of cookies in shapes of pumpkins, turkeys and let the kids decorate with frosting. Then take them to Thanksgiving dinner! You can find some of my favorite cookie recipes here.
Bake Pies: Have your kids help you bake pies for Thanksgiving.
Thankful Jar: Spend some time with the kids making a Thankful Jar.
Grocery Shopping Adventure: Take your kids grocery shopping for a special side dish they want to make for Thanksgiving dinner. Give them a list, help them match up coupons and let them take their own shopping cart to the store. Also, let them use self checkout and put money into the machine themselves. Trust me, a simple task like grocery shopping can be so fun for kids when they get to do all steps of it and it’s also a great teaching opportunity. Oh, and don’t forget the free cookie!
FREE Days: Check on free days at your local zoo or museum – if they have one – go! Also, check with your local library – see if you can get any free passes that way.
Story Time: Go to the library for story time.
Library: Check with your local library for any special events they are having that week that are Thanksgiving related and go!
Board Game: Play a board game at home as a family. As a family of 5 we love playing Qwirkle, Catan, and Throw Throw Burrito!
Free Local Event: Check your local area and see what special events are going on and go! There might be a free concert, etc.
Tree Lighting Event: Go to a free tree lighting ceremony! My area does this the day after Thanksgiving and it’s a blast! It’s a fun free night filled with lighting a bunch of decorated trees in a local park, carolers, hot cocoa, and ice sculptures and it’s all free! Check your area and see what you can find.
Fall Glitter Playdough: Make glittery playdough in 4 festive flavors for fall!
Christmas Tree Time: Set up and decorate your Christmas tree! I see nothing wrong with Christmas decorations being up before Thanksgiving. Right?
Make Garland: Make a special type of tree garland with popcorn, fruit loops, or even pom-poms to hang on your Christmas tree!

See – there are a ton of free things you can do with your kids over Thanksgiving break that don’t cost a penny and will build some fun memories! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving this year, filled with fun, laughter, and meaning for you and your family!

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