Thanksgiving in Spanish for Kids: Words, Gratitude Phrases and a Free Printable
Thanksgiving in Spanish is el Día de Acción de Gracias, the day of giving thanks. To say Happy Thanksgiving, say ¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! (fe-LEES DEE-a de ak-SYON de GRA-syas). Below: 18 Thanksgiving words with pronunciation, three sentences your child can say at dinner, and a free two-page printable.
How to say it: a quick guide for parents
Thanksgiving
el Día de Acción de Gracias
DEE-a de ak-SYON de GRA-syas
Happy Thanksgiving
¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!
fe-LEES DEE-a de ak-SYON de GRA-syas
I give thanks for…
Doy gracias por…
DOY GRA-syas por
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable. Three sounds to know: the Spanish c before i or e sounds like an s (gracias is GRA-syas), the j and the g before e sound like a breathy h (hojas is O-has), and the z sounds like an s too (calabaza is ka-la-BA-sa). Your pronunciation does not need to be perfect; your child just needs to hear you try.
A note on word choices
Thanksgiving is a US holiday, and the words on this page are the ones a family in the US needs for it. Where Spanish-speaking countries use different words, we picked the one most US Spanish classes teach and noted the other:
- calabaza for pumpkin, and tarta de calabaza for pumpkin pie (you may also see pastel de calabaza).
- maíz for corn. Corn on the cob is elote in Mexico.
- batata for sweet potato (camote in Mexico).
- papas for potatoes (patatas in Spain).
Your child will be understood with either word in each pair. And here’s a globe lesson for the table: south of the equator the seasons are flipped. While your family rakes leaves in November, it’s late spring in Chile; el otoño there runs from late March to June. Our months and seasons page has the rest of that story.
Thanksgiving vocabulary in Spanish: 18 words
These are the words your family will actually use on the day: the food on the table, the people around it, the season outside, and the two ways to talk about thanks. Where countries use a different word, the note under the English says so.
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| el pavo | PA-vo | turkey |
| la calabaza | ka-la-BA-sa | pumpkin |
| la tarta de calabaza | TAR-ta de ka-la-BA-sa | pumpkin pieAlso pastel de calabaza |
| el maíz | ma-EES | cornCorn on the cob is elote in Mexico |
| la batata | ba-TA-ta | sweet potatoCamote in Mexico |
| las papas | PA-pas | potatoesPatatas in Spain |
| los arándanos | a-RAN-da-nos | cranberries (and blueberries) |
| el pan | PAN | bread |
| la cena | SE-na | dinner |
| la mesa | ME-sa | table |
| la familia | fa-MEE-lya | family |
| la abuela | a-BWE-la | grandma |
| el abuelo | a-BWE-lo | grandpa |
| el otoño | o-TO-nyo | fall, autumn |
| las hojas | O-has | leaves |
| gracias | GRA-syas | thank you |
| agradecido / agradecida | a-gra-de-SEE-do / -da | thankful (a boy / a girl) |
| compartir | kom-par-TEER | to share |
Arándanos covers both cranberries and blueberries; if you need to be exact, cranberries are arándanos rojos. Gracias and por favor also live on our Spanish greetings chart, if your child already knows them from there.
Gratitude sentences for kids
Estoy agradecido por…
I’m thankful for… A boy says it this way.
Estoy agradecida por…
I’m thankful for… A girl says it this way.
Doy gracias por…
I give thanks for… Same for everyone. Start here with little ones.
Finish the sentence with a word from the chart: Doy gracias por mi familia (I give thanks for my family), Estoy agradecida por la abuela (I’m thankful for Grandma), Doy gracias por la tarta de calabaza (I give thanks for the pumpkin pie). For a four-year-old, the frame plus one Spanish noun is a real sentence. For a ten-year-old, ask for two things joined with y (and).
A 10-minute gratitude circle at dinner
No screens and no prep beyond printing page 2. It works on Thanksgiving itself or on any weeknight in November, and it works when you speak no Spanish: every line you need is on this page.
- 1
Teach one sentence before dinner (2 minutes). Read the three frames on page 2 aloud: Estoy agradecido por… (a boy says it), Estoy agradecida por… (a girl says it), and Doy gracias por…, which works for everyone. If gender endings feel like too much tonight, use only Doy gracias por.
- 2
Go around the table (5 minutes). Each person finishes the sentence once. Spanish for the start, English for the rest is fine: Doy gracias por… my grandma. Grown-ups go first so kids hear it before they try it.
- 3
Ask the quiet ones (1 minute). Turn to a child who hasn't gone yet and say Cuéntame una cosa por la que das gracias: tell me one thing you're thankful for. Cuéntame means tell me.
- 4
Pass the food in Spanish (2 minutes). Pásame el pan, por favor. Gracias. Say it with the bread, then the papas, then the batata. The dish in your hands is the picture that makes the word stick.
Keep it light. If a child answers in English, repeat the sentence back with the Spanish frame and move on; hearing it is the lesson. After dinner, the drawing box on page 2 gives them a quiet way to finish the thought.
What’s in the free PDF
Page 1
Thanksgiving vocabulary chart
All 18 words with pronunciation and English, ¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! across the top, the word notes, and the flipped-seasons fact. Text only, so it prints clean on any printer.
Page 2
Gratitude worksheet
The three sentence frames, Doy gracias porto trace twice, a box to draw what they’re thankful for, two writing lines, and four phrases for the dinner table. Print one per child.
Get the free Thanksgiving printable
Two letter-size pages: the vocabulary chart for the fridge and the gratitude page for each child. No email needed.
Download the Printable (Free PDF)Questions parents ask
How do you say Happy Thanksgiving in Spanish?
¡Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias! Say it fe-LEES DEE-a de ak-SYON de GRA-syas. Thanksgiving itself is el Día de Acción de Gracias, literally the day of giving thanks. Many Spanish-speaking families in the US also say ¡Feliz Thanksgiving!, and you'll be understood either way.
When is Thanksgiving in 2026?
Thursday, November 26, 2026. In the US, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, so the date moves every year. In Spanish: el jueves 26 de noviembre.
Do Spanish-speaking countries celebrate Thanksgiving?
Mostly no. Thanksgiving is a US holiday. Puerto Rico, a US territory where Spanish is the main language, has it as an official holiday, and Spanish-speaking families across the US celebrate it along with everyone else.
How do you say turkey in Spanish?
El pavo, said PA-vo. It's the word you'll see on most menus and in most books. In Mexico you'll also hear guajolote for the bird.
What's the difference between gracias and agradecido?
Gracias is what you say: thank you. Agradecido is how you feel: thankful. A boy says estoy agradecido, a girl says estoy agradecida, because the ending matches the person talking. Doy gracias por (I give thanks for) skips the ending entirely, which is why it's the easiest frame for young kids.
What is pumpkin pie in Spanish?
Tarta de calabaza (TAR-ta de ka-la-BA-sa). Calabaza is pumpkin and tarta is pie. You may also see pastel de calabaza in other books; both are understood.
Keep Spanish at the table after November
A holiday gets Spanish into one dinner. A short story read together a few nights a week keeps it there. Our Manuel y Lola stories use the same school Spanish: Spanish on the page, with a parent guide in English.
Read a free story now
The Manuel y Lola starter story, printable, no email needed.
Get the free starter pack
The story plus a parent guide in English, sent to your inbox.
Months and seasons chart
Noviembre, el otoño and the rest of the year, free to print.
More free printables: Spanish charts and story readers.
Sources
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Federal holidays: Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November
- Wikipedia: Public holidays in Puerto Rico: Thanksgiving (Día de Acción de Gracias) as an official holiday
- Wikipedia (Spanish): Ipomoea batatas: batata, camote and boniato as regional names for the sweet potato