From ‘Charlie Brown’ to ‘Teen Titans,’ These 23 Thanksgiving Episodes for Kids Are a Must-Watch for Turkey Day 2024

Perhaps you’re counting on screen time to keep the kids from getting underfoot while you prepare a massive holiday feast; or maybe you’re realizing that after gorging yourself on said feast, there’s not much to do but change into sweatpants and cozy up with a family-friendly holiday special. Well, friends, you can easily cover both bases with our round up of the best Thanksgiving episodes for kids to watch in 2024, which includes comedic relief from the likes of Garfield and the Rugrats, tender family moments courtesy of Full House, and just about everything in between. And to make things extra special, consider serving some fancy appetizers or easy Thanksgiving apps that both kids and adults will love. And to make things extra special, consider setting out easy finger foods like cheese cubes and mini sliders that both kids and adults will love. Parents while youre watching try some bubbly prosecco cocktail pairings.

Need an alternative Thanksgiving Meal?

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: Y7
• Run time: 25 minutes

In the first half of season 2, episode 9, Llama Llama and his group of friends are pioneers who invent a new holiday to show their gratitude to the various adults that serve the community. In other words, this one is a wholesome watch for the toddler and pre-K crowd that avoids the troublesome history behind the actual holiday.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: NR
• Run time: 25 minutes

You know the holiday season is in full swing when the Charlie Brown specials become readily available for streaming. Here, the Peanuts gang attempts to pull off a perfect fall harvest feast—despite their limited culinary skills—and, as always, the show’s signature comedic stylings are guaranteed to charm the whole family. (And for what it’s worth, it’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving episodes for kids.)

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 26 minutes

This holiday special from the Sesame Street crew serves up just what you’d expect from the beloved, long-running series: a multicultural celebration full of community love.

• Suitable For: Kids ages 3+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 23 minutes

This wholesome and funny show for little kids is really all about gratitude, so it should come as no surprise that the holiday special nails the Thanksgiving message. Tune in for a festive watch, complete with catchy tunes, and a healthy dose of social emotional learning, thanks to a band of friends who spread the notion of thankfulness to those who need to learn it the most.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 3+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 25 minutes

It should come as no surprise that the holiday special (Season 3, Episode 29) of this interactive, hit TV series for toddlers and preschoolers involves guessing what the ever-mysterious pup, Blue, is thankful for.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 3+
• Rating: All
• Run time: 23 minutes

Much like Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer is an interactive show that promises the little kid crowd more than just a passive viewing experience. This time, the bilingual protagonist needs some help from your clever kid in order to fix a Thanksgiving Day parade snafu.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 23 minutes

The rivalry between Mayor Goodway and Mayor Humdinger is still going strong in this Paw Patrol holiday special—and, per the usual, it’s Mayor Humdinger who is on the wrong side of Thanksgiving history. The plot isn’t particularly original—needless to say, the pups save the day and Adventure Bay has its feast—but chances are your pup-obsessed toddler won’t mind a predictable ending amid his queue of Thanksgiving episodes to binge (with appropriate screentime breaks, of course).

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 23 minutes

No Care Bears episode would be complete without some force of evil for the cuddly protagonists to fight, and this 1986 Thanksgiving special is no exception. This time, it’s Sour Sam—a villain who has a diabolical plot to ruin the holiday by foisting crabby apple pies on the town. Fortunately, the team of do-gooders manages to save the day with some help from Gram Bear’s Star Baker skills.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 3+
• Rating: G
• Run time: 63 minutes

The whole Hundred Acre gang—Christopher Robin, Poo, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Gopher, and Owl—have worked hard to prepare a unique Thanksgiving spread. Alas, the feast is lacking some key components (think: turkey, cranberry sauce and pie for dessert) that the friends must hunt down in order to save the holiday.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 3+
• Rating: Y7
• Run time: 27 minutes

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood devotes a full episode to the festive theme of giving thanks with a brief, but treasured visit from Grandpere Tiger, followed by a community-wide celebration known as “Neighborhood Thank You Day.”

• Suitable For: 3+
• Rating: NR
• Run Time: 10 minutes

In case you missed it, Olivia the Pig is a preschool-friendly, animated sensation—adapted from the namesake book series by Ian Falconer. Here, we have a made-for-TV holiday special that ties into and expands upon the corresponding book in which the beloved and oh-so-precocious pig shows off her skills as a turkey-whisperer in the most hilarious way (i.e., with lots of warbling).

• Suitable for: Kids ages 4+
• Rating: G
• Run time: 24 minutes

Garfield, the fattest and laziest of cats, is put on a diet by his vet (and his owner’s love interest) in this uproarious, Emmy award-winning holiday special from 1989. Watch it after the Thanksgiving feast and the whole fam will find the antics of this food-loving feline particularly entertaining.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 5+
• Rating: NR
• Run time: 57 minutes

An Arthur Thanksgiving is much like any other Thanksgiving in that the episode involves a series of unforeseen and unfortunate events—a missing family pet, a relative showing up unannounced, and complications to the annual parade—that threaten to derail the whole holiday. Also totally relatable is the fact that somehow everything works out in the end.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 7+
• Rating: Y7
• Run time: 21 minutes

Here, a holiday special from Animaniacs—a wildly popular animated comedy musical series from the 90s—in which the Warners must protect their beloved pet turkey and its newly hatched babe from Miles Standish, a hungry bully with a hankering for roasted bird. (Spoiler: Wit > brawn.)

• Suitable for: Kids ages 6+
• Rating: Y
• Run time: 24 minutes

Grandpa wins a competition for a free Thanksgiving turkey, only to discover the prized bird is still alive. Hilarity ensues when the iconic gang of babies grow attached to the main course and everyone has to settle for cereal. This cartoon is cute and clever enough for the whole family to enjoy.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 8+
• Rating: Y7
• Run time: 24 minutes

As is his custom, the football-headed kid known as Arnold sets out on a quest to discover the true meaning of things when the tenants of the boarding house get too caught up bickering to give thanks. This thought-provoking holiday special has positive messages and, like most Hey, Arnold episodes, it has aged remarkably well.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 10+
• Rating: PG
• Run time: 23 minutes

This offbeat episode from the Steven Universe series is one to put on for the kids when you need ‘em out of the kitchen. The plot, which features extraterrestrials and a mysterious newcomer, is adequately complex and perfectly entertaining, and the Thanksgiving theme—albeit understated—emphasizes the spirit of togetherness and the importance of holiday traditions.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 7+
• Rating: PG
• Run time: 24 minutes

Laugh, cry and get overwhelmed by early 90s nostalgia with this holiday special, in which the oh-so wholesome Full House cast strive to make their first Thanksgiving without Pam—the deceased mother of D.J., Stephanie and Michelle Tanner—a memorable one.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 12+
• Rating: PG
• Run Time: 21 minutes

The humor in this fresh and clever sitcom about a Taiwanese immigrant family will likely go over the heads of younger children. That said, tweens, teens and parents will delight in the fierce adult-sibling rivalry that ensues when the Huang family has the privilege of hosting the holiday feast. (Fact: I recently binge-watched this entire series with my Chinese-American partner and can personally vouch for its awesomeness.)

• Suitable for: Kids ages 7+
• Rating: Y7
• Run Time: 24 minutes

Fans of this Nickelodeon throwback already know that there’s never a dull moment for the adventurous Thornberry family, and Thanksgiving is no exception. This episode, which finds the clan in the tropical rainforests of Madagascar, involves a holiday invitation from grandma and a difficult decision to make about whether or not to celebrate the occasion stateside.

• Suitable for: Kids ages 7+
• Rating: Y
• Run Time: 23 minutes

A turkey that has escaped from the local Thanksgiving parade seeks refuge with CatDog and the conjoined siblings do their very best to hide it…in a very interesting place. Needless to say, you can expect lots of animal mayhem and comedy from this cartoon ode to Thanksgiving.