Pair painted hand tracings with festive pom poms to create a Thanksgiving handprint art garland for kids.
Updated October 2024
We love these beautiful Thanksgiving garlands featuring painted hands with words of gratitude written on them. It was a multi-step process, but well worth the extra steps and involvement.
This project is a great way to reuse all of that beautiful process artwork you might have piled up at home, too. We used some watercolor paintings we had as well as some bright leaf rubbings we did earlier this fall.
Here’s how we made these kids’ Thanksgiving garlands.
Thanksgiving Handprint Art
MATERIALS
- Old artwork to be reused
- Sharpie marker (we used gold metallic markers)
- Hole punch
- Embroidery thread or yarn
- Large, blunt embroidery needle
- Pom poms & large beads
INSTRUCTIONS
- Choose your artwork
First, look through your kids’ artwork and pick some pieces you’d like to reuse for this project.
- Trace kids’ hands
Use a pencil to trace your kids’ hands. If you are doing this with older kids, they could trace their own hands.
Cut out the hand tracings.
- Write words of gratitude
Ask your kids what they are thankful for (see the gratitude prompt below) and write their words of gratitude on their hands with Sharpie markers. Older kids can write the words themselves.
- String a pompom garland
Use a large, blunt embroidery needle (best for young kids) on the end of some doubled up embroidery thread to string a garland of pom poms and big beads.
- Add thankful hands to pompom garland
Punch holes at the top of each thankful hand and string a 6-inch length of embroidery thread through it. Then tie the hand to the pompom garland.
- Hang your Thanksgiving garlands!
Display your new Thanksgiving garlands where everyone can see them and be reminded of what they are thankful for.
The gratitude part is easy for older children to understand. If you ask 6-year-olds what they are grateful or thankful for, they’ll tell you their family and friends, toys, and favorite foods, etc. But for younger kids who don’t yet grasp what gratitude means, it’s a bit trickier.
Here are some questions we can use to help little kids understand what gratitude means. Just enter your email to get a PDF of some gratitude prompts.
What do you think? Would you make Thanksgiving garlands like these with your kids?
More Thanksgiving Activities for Kids
- 15 Thanksgiving Children’s Books
- 13 Thanksgiving Arts & Crafts for Family Connection
- How to Make a Gratitude Tree for Thanksgiving
- 5 Thanksgiving Book Crafts for Kids
- 30 Thanksgiving Activities for Kids (Plus a Printable List!)
- How to Make a Thanksgiving Garland for Kids
Want even more creative ideas?
Check out our Thanksgiving Creativity pack!
Full of wonderfully fun ideas to help your family practice gratitude this season, this 38-page printable eBook includes: Drawing Prompts, Conversation Starters, Art Projects, and more!
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