30 Terrific Turkey Crafts for Kids to Make this Thanksgiving
Turkeys are going to feature a lot this Thanksgiving with our terrific turkey crafts for kids to make! Make cards, place holders, puppets and much more!
Just say ‘Thanksgiving Dinner’ and the first image that comes to mind is a nicely roasted turkey, in the middle of the table, surrounded by sides of all kinds. But amid all the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, it is the turkey that is the superstar!
Apparently, although 90% of people who celebrate Thanksgiving do so with turkey, it wasn’t the original Thanksgiving meal. When farmers realized that they had plenty of turkeys, it became the natural choice for Thanksgiving dinner. Here are some more fun facts about Thanksgiving dinner!
Fun Facts about Thanksgiving Dinner
- Earlier, Thanksgiving was a day of fasting and prayer for the Pilgrims, rather than a day of feasting
- The first Thanksgiving meals most likely had venison, wildfowl and seafood
- Most of the turkeys sold in the US during Thanksgiving are frozen turkeys
- The U.S has a hotline to help home chefs prepare their turkeys, called the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line
- A typical Thanksgiving meal can pack in up to 3,480 calories
- TV dinners were created when the Swanson company wanted to make use of 260 tons of leftover turkey
Now, while Mom and Dad are busy with the turkey in the kitchen, the kiddos shouldn’t feel left out. So here are 20 terrific turkey crafts for kids, which they can make and play with. The best part is that most of these crafts are made from recycled materials of all kinds. So if you’ve got lots of odds and ends left over from the crafts of the past several months, bring them out – it’s time to make turkeys!
30 Terrific Turkey Crafts for Kids
1. Paper Plate Tissue Paper Turkey Craft
Here’s a pretty little turkey craft using common craft supplies like tissue paper, googly eyes and craft paper. Add a paper plate and you have the perfect base to create a brightly colored, festive-themed turkey!
2. Paper Quilled Turkey Craft
Turkeys aren’t celebrated for their beauty, but they do have their own charm! Bring it out in this paper quilling craft, which doesn’t require too much work. With mostly one shape of coil in different colors, you can easily make this.
3. Thanksgiving Turkey Pop-Up Card
If you’re planning to give someone a Thanksgiving card, please make it this one! With a pop-up turkey, pumpkins and a cute sign, this is a card they’ll treasure forever!
4. Turkey Hug Bookmark Papercraft
Our turkey crafts for kids also double up as little gifts to give your friends this Thanksgiving, like this adorable little turkey hug bookmark!
5. Simple Clay Turkey Craft for Kids
We love making clay crafts, which is why we had to include this cute little clay turkey in this list of turkey crafts for kids! This isn’t that hard to make, and you can easily turn it into a fridge magnet.
6. Adorable Handprint Turkey Craft
Handprint crafts are the perfect choice for toddlers and preschoolers, and if you have one at home, be sure to try out this turkey handprint craft with them – they’ll love it!
7. Rolled Paper Turkey Craft for Kids
It’s amazing what you can do with just paper, including making turkey crafts for kids using only craft paper in shades of brown, red and yellow! This rolled paper is one of the many rolled paper crafts we made for Fall.
8. Turkey Corner Bookmark for Fall
Keep your reading going even if it’s the holidays, and we’ve got a perfect Thanksgiving-themed one for you to make! This is a set of four – make them all or just your favorite one – ours is the turkey!
9. Thankful Turkey Printable Headband
Turn yourself into a turkey for a day by wearing this printable turkey headband! It’s also a great prop if you’re putting up a special Thanksgiving show for your friends, family or classmates.
10. Turkey Handprint Art
This one is for the littlest ones among us. Just smear paint in different colors and print!! Of course, the real challenge here is not going to be the actual printing – it’s getting them to sit still while you apply the paint on their hands!
11. Thankful Handprint Turkey Craft
This idea from Happy Home Fairy is so cute! This turkey is more than just a bright craft for kids. Download the free printable and let the kids write down what they’re thankful for – and hand it to the appropriate person!
12. Styrofoam Cup Turkey
This is such an easy craft even toddlers can have a go at it! The Resourceful Mama uses a plain cup and paints it brown, but if you can get your hands on a brown cup then all you need to do is stick the parts together and you have a cute little turkey!
13. Mini Popsicle Stick Turkey Craft
Wondering how to make a turkey out of Popsicle sticks? Crafty Morning shows us how – with mini craft sticks! The result is a rather mischievous-looking turkey – just look at those big googly eyes!
14. Simple Paper Turkey Craft
Seriously, all you need for this turkey craft from Easy Peasy and Fun are craft paper, glue and scissors! If you have those zig-zag scissors, it’ll be easier to get the ‘feather effect’, but regular scissors should also work. Makes for great cutting practice!
15. Toilet Roll Turkey Craft
You can’t have a list of turkey crafts for kids without featuring a toilet roll turkey! A Dab of Glue Will Do has a simple toilet roll craft that also uses handprints made on construction paper. You can also use craft foam in different colors for a sturdier turkey.
16. Turkey Pumpkin Craft
Three Fall icons come together in this craft from Growing up Bilingual – pumpkins, leaves and turkeys! Of all the ways you can decorate pumpkins, set aside one for this project – and watch people admire as they walk by your front porch!
17. Place Card Turkeys
Planning an elaborate sit-down dinner for Thanksgiving? Then you need to set places, and what better way to do it than with a turkey? Keeping it Simple has a clever idea of using craft sticks to spell out names, decorated with washi tape in fall theme colors.
18. Turkey Finger Puppets
We love finger puppets – they’re easy to make and play with, and you can create pretty much any character you like. Which in this case, is a turkey from Artsy Momma! The leaves and balloons add a lot of texture and interest, rather than just plain paper.
19. Wood Slice Turkey Craft
The Craft Patch Blog has a rather glamorous-looking turkey craft – something you can almost call a turkey princess! It’s the glitter washi tape that actually adds the glam factor to this craft that can also be reused a place holder or napkin ring.
20. Egg Carton Turkeys
Keep those egg cartons stored somewhere – they’re going to turn into turkey crafts for kids! Crafty Morning shows how the entire carton can be reused to make the turkey – the body as well as the feathers. Just add googly eyes and a beak, and you can have an entire battalion of little turkeys ready!
21. Recycled CD Turkey Craft
Speaking of reusing trash, don’t throw out the old CDs either, they’ll come in very handy to make this recycled CD turkey craft from The Resourceful Mama. You can either use real leaves or artificial ones, or you can make your own out of orange and yellow craft paper.
22. Stained Glass Turkeys
These stained glass turkey crafts for kids from Glued to My Crafts are easier to make than they look! The body and feathers are available for free download, and all you need to do after that is stick on the colored paper for a cool stained glass effect!
23. Scrap Paper Turkey Craft
Do you know what’s special about this turkey craft from The Pinterested Parent? Yes, there’s a little baby turkey too! If you’ve got lots of paper scraps after crafting all year, put them to good use by making them the feathers of this multicolored Mama and Baby turkey pair!
24. Cupcake Liner Turkey Craft
This project from Raising Little Superheroes has many craft techniques and is a good project for beginner crafters to learn. It includes cutting, folding and gluing, and working with different supplies like cupcake liners, foam sheets, googly eyes and more.
25. Coffee Filter Turkey Craft
We’ve made turkey crafts for kids out of old CDs, scrap paper, Styrofoam cups, paper plates, egg cartons, cupcake liners – what’s left? Why coffee filters, of course! Buggy and Buddy has the perfect project for this, which gives our turkey a rather exotic look!
26. Crumpled Paper Turkey Craft For Kids
Making crumpled paper crafts is a great fine motor exercise for young kids, and if you’re looking for one to keep the kids busy this Thanksgiving, Simply Everyday Mom has the perfect one for you!
27. Paper Bag Turkey Craft
We love paper bag puppets – they’re so much fun to make and easy to use. If you’re planning to have a Thanksgiving-special puppet show this year, be sure to include these turkey puppets from Easy Peasy and Fun!
28. Paper Plate Turkey Craft
Printables Fairy shows us how to turn ordinary paper plates into turkey crafts for kids! You can use brown paper plates or paint white ones brown. Add some craft paper and you have everything you need!
29. DIY Felt Turkey Craft
You can make felt plushies based on pretty much any character under the sun, so why not turkeys? If you’re wondering where to start, check out the instructions over at One Little Project.
30. Thanksgiving Turkey Photo Craft
Thanksgiving dinners are often family occasions, when people from across the country try to make it home. Have a keepsake of this special moment with a fun craft from Our Kid Things.
Looks like these turkey crafts for kids can be made with just about anything! From usual supplies like paper, foam and craft sticks to things like pumpkins and wooden blocks, anything goes! Go ahead and pair them up with other fall crafts including pumpkins, autumn trees and more!
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