Thanksgiving Science Activities

Thanksgiving Science Activities for Kids

  1. Extract DNA from a pumpkin
  2. Make holiday window decorations
  3. Make a hexbug turkey
  4. Bake the perfect pumpkin pie
  5. Check out the 2017 list
4 thanksgiving science activities - perfect pumpkin pie, pumpkin dna, thanksgiving hexbots, diy window cling

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Having food, family, warm smells, and hot fires in one place are the pinnacle of life for me. 

Keeping the kids busy and happy during this season can seem like a task in and of itself. Personally, I love the extra time to work on some projects with them. And while it might seem difficult to have my kids cooking with me, I love that they are learning and spending quality time with me. 

We have four ideas this year to keep your brains fed, and if that isn’t enough, you can always check out our list from last year when we learned how to calibrate our ovens, discovered magic tablecloth tricks, and more!

1. Extract pumpkin DNA

extracting DNA from living fruits and vegetables for kids

This one might be my favorite because I get to make (and eat) pumpkin pie. I definitely don’t complain when the girls want to do this activity multiple times.

Learn how to isolate DNA from pumpkin puree – the perfect activity for those tidbits left over in the can when you’re making your pumpkin pie.

Start Extracting

2. Make holiday window decorations

gel window clings make fun holiday window decorations

These window gels lasted on our windows for months, it was kind of crazy, and they were a breeze to take off as well. A super cool activity!

Learn how to make your own gel window clings as you discover osmosis and diffusion in the process.

Make Your Decorations

3. Make a hexbug turkey

hexbug harry potter

Keep the kids happy with just a battery, vibrating motor, and some decorations as you create your own vibrating turkey!

Honestly, kids can play with hex bugs for hours, and hours, and hours. Pretty much as long as you have batteries. Make sure to stock up on batteries… The different decorations they make are so cute and inventive!

Create Your Turkey

4. Bake the perfect pumpkin pie

science of pumpkin pie - cooking the perfect pie for the holidays

Learn the science behind baking the perfect pie – complete with a delectably flaky crust, creamy custard, and pumpkin perfection.

This activity goes along with the pumpkin pie DNA from above, and kids love getting their hands (and tongues) involved!

Get the directions

5. Check out our 2017 list of ideas

calibrate your oven for thanksgiving using sugar with this fun science activity

Make Sugar Glass, Calibrate Your Oven, Create Dancing Corn and more!!

Check out the 2017 list

Let me know what you think of our activities, and pass along whichever ones were your favorites! Happy Thanksgiving!

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