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Mayflower Handprint Craft For Kids [Free Template]

Thanksgiving is a holiday steeped in tradition and history.

We often talk about the delicious food and the gratitude we feel for our lives, but do our kids know about the pilgrims and all they did for us?

This Thanksgiving, why not help your kids learn more about the pilgrims and their stories?

One easy way to do this is by making this Mayflower handprint craft. There’s no messy paint involved and the kids will definitely be proud of their finished project!

Grab those crafting supplies and get busy teaching and having fun. Also, check out all of our Thanksgiving crafts for kids for more ideas.

Thanksgiving Handprint Craft

Thanksgiving kids' craft image collage with the words handprint Mayflower

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Supplies

  • Colored cardstock or construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Pencil
  • Mayflower ship template (enter your email in the form at the end of this post to have the link sent to you)

Directions

Download the Mayflower template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.

hand holding Mayflower handprint craft template

Take the 3 portholes and glue them in the middle of the ship base.

hand gluing porthole to Mayflower handprint craft

Trace your child’s hand on the paper and cut it out. Next, take the regular sail and glue it just below the top of the pole. Place the handprint sail below the regular sail and glue it down.

hand gluing sail to Mayflower handprint craft
hand gluing handprint sail to Mayflower handprint craft

Place the completed sails on a piece of blue paper and glue it in place.

hand gluing pole and sails to Mayflower handprint craft

Position the ship base at the bottom of the background paper and glue it onto the pole.

hand gluing ship bottom to Mayflower handprint craft

Finish up by gluing the waves to the bottom of the boat.

hand gluing waves to Mayflower handprint craft

Isn’t this such a cute and simple handprint craft for kids?!

hand holding Mayflower handprint craft

Thanksgiving Ideas For Kids

Looking for a fun and educational Thanksgiving unit study? Look no further!

We’ve put together a list of books, crafts, and activities that will keep your kids engaged and learning all holiday long.

Start things off with some Thanksgiving books, then get those creative juices flowing with crafts. And finally, end the unit with a bang with some printable activities!

Books About Thanksgiving

One of the best things you can do for your kids is read aloud to them. It’s a great way to spend time with them, and it has some wonderful benefits for their developing minds.

For one thing, it helps them to develop a love of reading. When they see you enjoying a book, they’ll be more likely to want to pick one up themselves.

Reading aloud also helps kids to develop their listening skills and their attention spans. And it’s not just fiction that’s good for them – reading aloud from non-fiction books can help them to learn about the world around them.

Start off this Thanksgiving unit with these fun books:

Turkey Trouble – If you’ve never read this book, you have to add it to your holiday collection! It’s so cute and fun and kids just love it! Follow the turkey around the farm as he disguises himself as different animals so the farmer doesn’t catch him for Thanksgiving dinner!

How To Catch A Turkey – Kids who love the How To Catch books will want to see all the crazy contraptions kids make to try to catch a turkey loose at the school!

Pete The Cat: The First Thanksgiving -Every Pete the Cat book is fantastic, but this one takes it up a notch with flaps for the kids to open. It’s a great way to get the kids excited about reading and Thanksgiving!

2 Mayflower handprint crafts

Kids’ Thanksgiving Crafts

Crafts are a great activity for kids!

First of all, they allow creativity to flourish. Even with a specific end in mind, kids can put their own creative spin on every project. They can also experiment with different textures and materials, and explore their own sense of style.

Additionally, crafts are hands-on and engaging, which helps kids to stay focused and concentrated. And finally, crafting can be a great way for kids to unleash their energy and have some fun!

For those reasons and more, we recommend adding in more of these easy Thanksgiving crafts:

Tissue Paper Turkey Craft – This turkey craft is perfect for kids to make! Just glue tissue paper squares all over the paper to create a turkey. It’s colorful and fun, and it’s a great way for kids to practice their hand-eye coordination.

Thanksgiving kids craft image collage

Paper Bag Pilgrim Craft – Paper bag crafts are a fun and easy way for kids to celebrate Thanksgiving. All you need is a brown lunch sack, some paper, and a few other supplies from around the house. Just follow the instructions to have kids create their own holiday puppet.

Thankful Turkey Craft – This is a simple project that can be made with an old oatmeal container, some construction paper, and some glue. Kids can write all the things they’re thankful for on the feathers. It’s a fun way to get kids involved in the Thanksgiving holiday, and it helps them recognize the things they’re grateful for.

Paper Pumpkin Craft – This pumpkin craft is perfect for kids! It’s simple and easy to follow, plus it’s totally adorable. Your little ones will love creating their own paper pumpkin to show off.

Thanksgiving Activities For Kids

As parents know, getting kids to sit still and focus on a task can be a challenge. That’s why these pumpkin worksheets are so brilliant – they combine the fun of fall with the opportunity to practice important skills like handwriting, finding letters, and recognizing patterns!

These turkey do a dot printables for kids are not only super cute, but they’re also beneficial for helping kids develop their fine motor skills. As little fingers dab each circle, they can strengthen the muscles in the hand.

hand holding Mayflower handprint craft with another one in the background

This Thanksgiving put a twist on the traditional “pin the tail on the donkey” game and have some fun with a turkey! Just print out this pin the beak on the turkey game, cut out the pieces, and blindfold each player in turn. Then see who can come closest to placing the beak in the correct spot. This game is sure to get a few laughs and create some lasting memories.

Cool Thanksgiving Finds

Mayflower handprint craft

Share With Us

Did you make this craft with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s craft featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

More Thanksgiving Ideas

hand holding Mayflower handprint craft

Mayflower Handprint Craft For Kids

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

This Thanksgiving, why not help your kids learn more about the pilgrims and their stories? One easy way to do this is by making this Mayflower handprint craft.

Materials

  • Colored cardstock or construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Pencil
  • Mayflower ship template

Instructions

  1. Download the Mayflower template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.
  2. Take the 3 portholes and glue them in the middle of the ship base.
  3. Trace your child's hand on the paper and cut it out. Next, take the regular sail and glue it just below the top of the pole. Place the handprint sail below the regular sail and glue it down.
  4. Place the completed sails on a piece of blue paper and glue it in place.
  5. Position the ship base at the bottom of the background paper and glue it onto the pole.
  6. Finish up by gluing the waves to the bottom of the boat.

Did you make this craft?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Mayflower Ship Template

Mayflower Template

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Sue Paulino

Wednesday 15th of November 2023

Can’t wait to complete this with my students😊

Sam

Wednesday 15th of November 2023

Great! I hope they have fun!

Gina

Sunday 6th of November 2022

So cute

Sam

Monday 7th of November 2022

Thanks so much :)

Tere

Sunday 6th of November 2022

Looks fun and educational

Sam

Monday 7th of November 2022

Thanks!

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