Use this Thankful turkey printable coloring page to write, or draw pictures of, what you feel most grateful for!
Here’s a Thankful Turkey printable that can help increase feelings of thankfulness in the home or classroom. Toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and kids of all ages can use this printable Thankful Turkey to express their gratitude. Start by asking children: What are you thankful for? Then, please encourage them to write their answers or draw what they are grateful for in the corresponding boxes!
Alternatively, you can use the “I am grateful for” printable or the thankful turkey printable placemat to color instead! These printables offer alternative design options. For example, the Thankful Turkey placemats make it easy to entertain both kids and adults on Thanksgiving Day, enhancing feelings of gratitude while they wait for dinner. Conversely, this thankful turkey coloring page is best for a classroom gratitude activity or homeschool craft in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. The “I am grateful for” coloring page is better suited for year-round use at home or in the classroom.

Related: 20 Fun Thanksgiving Traditions
Printable Thankful Turkey Coloring Page:
Thankful or grateful thinking involves expressing appreciation for what we have instead of focusing on what we do not have. According to research, expressing gratitude and thankfulness can increase feelings of happiness, optimism, and empathy.
Writing in a gratitude journal, using printable gratitude prompts, “I am Grateful” worksheets, and thankful printables like this gratitude turkey, can help children and adults establish the habit of paying attention to the blessings in their lives.
Reading gratitude books is another fun and easy way to help children learn to express thankfulness. Gratitude brings abundance. When we are thankful for what we have, we get more of what we are grateful for and find greater happiness in life.
For several more simple ways to teach children about the concept of thankfulness or gratitude, please visit this fun collection of gratitude activities. It includes activities, crafts, and other great resources for parents and educators to use year-round to foster gratitude at home or in the classroom.
Alternatively, see this list of Thanksgiving gratitude crafts and activities. As the title suggests, the second list of ideas includes gratitude crafts and activities specific to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thankful Turkey Gratitude Activity Supplies:
- Thankful Turkey Printable
- Printer paper or cardstock
- Choose one of the following art supplies for coloring or writing:
Related: Best Art Supplies for Kids
How to Use Thankful Turkey Printable Coloring Page:
The easy step-by-step instructions below explain how to use this printable thankful turkey coloring page:
1. Print the thankful turkey Gratitude activity template:
- Print the “I am thankful for printable.”
- I like to print coloring pages on cardstock because it’s thicker, but regular printer paper also works great.
- Or, doodle your own “I am thankful for” template into your bullet journal or onto a piece of paper.
- Alternatively, you can use the “I am grateful for” printable or the thankful turkey printable placemat to color instead!
2. Fill in the empty boxes of the thankful Turkey printable with the people, events, places, and things that you are most grateful for:
- Fill in the boxes around the thankful turkey as if you were answering the question, “What am I thankful for?”
- To do so, write words of thankfulness, doodle, or draw a response in each “I am thankful for” box with colored pencils, crayons, markers, or gel pens.
- Another fun way to decorate this printable thankful template is to attach stickers, photographs, and magazine clippings.
- Use scissors to cut the pictures or clippings, and glue tape or a glue stick to attach them to the corresponding shapes.
- You can also use this Thanksgiving thankful turkey gratitude activity as an early literacy activity for kids with these instructions:
- First, invite preschoolers, kindergarteners, and elementary-aged children to draw their responses on one “thankful turkey printable.”
- Next, write the word for each picture in the corresponding spaces of a second “I am thankful for” printable gratitude worksheet, or somewhere near their drawing on the original printable.

Related: Turkey Leaf Luminaries
Thankful Turkey Activity Tips:
Use the thankful turkey activity tips listed below to increase feelings of thankfulness and multiply the blessings in your life:
1. Feel it in your heart:
- Take a moment to feel thankfulness in your heart for each entry.
- Taking the time to draw your responses is a great way to do this. I like to call it gratitude art therapy!
2. Focus on people and events more than things:
- Meaningful events and the people in our lives will always bring us more joy than what we have.
- Focus on people and events to help create stronger feelings of gratitude and thankfulness.
3. Take a moment to think of your life without them:
- Increase feelings of thankfulness by considering the absence of the things that you are most thankful for.
- Consider the lack of the person, place, or object as a way to increase your feelings of gratitude toward it.
4. Make it personal:
- Spend time personalizing each “I am thankful for” entry.
- Create art, doodle, or draw. Focusing on feelings of gratitude can help you spend more time focusing on the blessings in life.
- Glam your Thanksgiving Thankful Turkey up with gel pen doodles, gratitude stickers, and anything else that makes you feel good!
5. Place Thankful Turkey Printables on Display:
- Display your “Thankful Turkeys” somewhere that you will see them often as a gentle reminder of the blessings in your life.
- For example, use fingerprint magnets to hang one on the fridge, tape one to your bedroom or bathroom mirror, or put one in a frame and hang it near your desk.
6. Fill out a new gratitude journal worksheet weekly or monthly:
- Once Thanksgiving is over, use the “I am grateful” gratitude journal printable to increase feelings of thankfulness throughout the year.
Thankful Printable Tip: Use Wet-Erase Markers and dry-erase pockets or a laminator and easy laminating sheets. Tools make it easy to reuse gratitude journal printables repeatedly, which helps avoid wasting printer ink and paper if you prefer.

Thanksgiving Thankful Turkey Project:
Create an attitude of gratitude in your home or classroom this holiday season with this thankful turkey activity. Thankful printables like this one make it fun and easy to increase feelings of thankfulness and gratitude!
Use the Thanksgiving thankful turkey activity to share what you feel grateful for in your life. Alternatively, you can print the “I am grateful for printable.” It is similar to this printable thankful template, without the turkey in the middle. Gobble gobble! Or, color the thankful turkey printable placemat instead!
For several more simple ways to teach children about the concept of thankfulness or gratitude, please visit this fun collection of gratitude activities. The ideas include activities, crafts, and other great resources for parents and educators to use year-round to foster gratitude at home or in the classroom.
Alternatively, see this list of Thanksgiving gratitude crafts and activities. The ideas include gratitude crafts and activities specific to the Thanksgiving season.
More Thanksgiving Activities for Kids:
- Thanksgiving Traditions and Fun Things to Do on Thanksgiving
- Best Thankful Tree Ideas
- Thanksgiving Turkey Leaf Crafts
- Turkey Leaf Lantern Mason Jar Thanksgiving Craft










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