- Turkey Family
- Pie And Kitchen Scenes
- Harvest And Farm
- Pilgrims And Table
- Woodland And Autumn
- Frequently Asked Questions
Thanksgiving coloring sheets give kids something to do with their hands while the oven does the real work. This set of 19 pages covers turkey families, a pumpkin pie with a pilgrim mouse, a corn harvest wagon and other bold holiday scenes, each one a single simple subject a child can finish without help.
Print the pages on regular printer paper for a quick stack, or switch to a slightly heavier cardstock if a page will get folded into a place card or centerpiece later. A normal or draft print setting keeps the thick outlines dark and easy to see, and a paper trimmer squares off any edge that needs to fit a frame or folder.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Turkey Family
Little hands that can barely hold a crayon steady still manage this page just fine, since the turkey family and the hay bale underneath are big enough for a three or four year old to finish alone.
Chunky washable markers glide best over these wide feathers, since the thick outlines keep most colors from bleeding past the edges.
Start on the mama turkey’s tail, then work down toward the chicks so the easiest shapes get colored last, when patience runs thin. Kids who love animal subjects later on might enjoy the silly animal doodles set too.
Leave the hat buckle bright white and color only the brim and crown around it, a simple trick that makes the buckle look like it shines without any extra blending.
Once the feathers are filled in, trim around the fanned tail and tape it to a paper plate body for a tabletop turkey that survives a toddler’s grip better than the real centerpiece.
Punch a hole at the top and the page also hangs flat on a kitchen window, catching afternoon light while the real turkey roasts.
Pie And Kitchen Scenes
Set this page beside Gravy Boat And Dinner Rolls so the two finished sheets sit side by side like a tiny printed place setting on the kids’ table.
Most kids color every piece of fruit the same shade of orange, and the whole basket ends up looking like one blurry pumpkin pile.
Hand over just three colors instead, red for the apples, purple for the grapes and yellow for the corn, and the cornucopia reads clearly even from across the room.
Short on time before the turkey comes out, let a child color only the apples bright red and leave the basket and jug plain white for a finished look in under ten minutes.
While the crayon moves over the rolls, ask which food on the real table she is most excited to eat.
It keeps little hands on the page a few minutes longer and turns a quiet activity into a small conversation before everyone sits down to dinner.
Harvest And Farm
Older kids around six or seven who enjoy filling in lots of small shapes will like working through every single kernel of corn piled into this wagon.
Brown and orange crayons suit the patched overalls and straw hat better than markers, since crayon lets a child shade the burlap face without it looking too solid.
Start with the straw poking out of the sleeves and collar, then move to the clothes, so the hardest texture gets colored while attention is freshest.
Color the pumpkins in three slightly different oranges instead of just one, and the whole wheelbarrow looks fuller without adding a single extra line to the page.
Trimmed and glued to a small stand, a finished hay bale stack folds nicely into a place card, one for each spot at the kids’ table.
Write a name across the bottom bale in marker before gluing, and the page does double duty as decoration and seating chart.
Pilgrims And Table
Print this page next to Mayflower Ship On Waves so a child can color the travelers and their ship on the same afternoon and tell the story in order.
Kids often rush the plates and cups and leave the tablecloth blank, so the page looks unfinished even after every dish is colored.
Hand over one light color, a pale yellow or soft blue, for the tablecloth last, and the whole scene suddenly looks complete.
When ten minutes is all there is, let the sails stay plain white and ask for blue waves only, since a ship on blue water already reads as finished.
Ask what she is most thankful for this year while she colors around the folded hands and the harvest spread beneath them.
Write her answer along the bottom edge once the crayons go down, and the page turns into a small keepsake instead of just a coloring sheet.
Woodland And Autumn
Younger siblings who still name every animal they see will enjoy picking out the small squirrel family tucked among the big round acorns, a nice next step toward the animal doodle painting ideas for an older brother or sister.
Soft colored pencils work well on the deer’s coat, letting a child layer light and dark brown without the outline disappearing underneath.
Begin with the antlers and ears, the smallest shapes on the page, then fill in the big body and leaves last for an easier finish.
Leave a ring of white around each eye before coloring the feathers, and the owl’s stare pops off the page the moment the rest of the colors go in, a trick worth trying again on the watercolor zentangle feathers page later.
What to Do Next
Print the full set, hand over the crayons, and let the turkey family or the harvest wagon keep little hands busy until dinner hits the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper should I print these Thanksgiving coloring sheets on?
Regular printer paper works fine for a quick coloring session, since the thick outlines show up clearly even on thin paper. If a page will end up as a centerpiece or a place card, switch to a medium weight cardstock instead, since it folds and stands up better than standard paper.
Which printer settings give the clearest lines?
A normal or draft black and white setting is enough, since there is no shading or gray fill to worry about losing. Standard letter size paper fits every page without scaling, and a quick check of the print preview confirms the whole scene fits inside the margins before the whole stack prints.
What size should the pages print at?
Leave the print dialog on 100 percent or actual size rather than fit to page, so the bold outlines stay thick and nothing gets stretched thin. Every page in this set is built for standard letter paper, so no extra scaling or cropping is needed before handing a sheet to a child.
What should kids color these pages with?
Washable crayons or chunky washable markers work best for small hands and wide outlines, since both glide easily over the thick lines without much pressure. Colored pencils suit an older child who wants to blend or shade, but crayons stay the simplest choice for toddlers and preschoolers.
Can the finished pages be turned into decorations?
Several pages in this set, like the hay bale stack and the fanned turkey tail, trim and fold into place cards or a small centerpiece for the kids’ table. A glue stick and a pair of child safe scissors are all that is needed to turn a colored page into part of the table setting.