One of the best traditions for kids activities during Thanksgiving has got to be turkey crafts! It’s the iconic animal of the season, and a festive crafting idea for kids to get stuck into in the run up to the holidays, and to keep them occupied on the big day too.
Here you’ll find a round up of some of the best crafty turkey ideas for kids from keepsake cards to items to dress the table with.
Festive Thanksgiving Turkey Craft Ideas To Keep The Kids Entertained
1.Turkey Pumpkin Craft
Not only are turkeys synonymous with the holidays, so are pumpkins! Combine the best of both worlds with this easy craft.
You’ll need a pumpkin, craft wooden logs, pegs or wooden posts (like the below), googly eyes and some pieces of felt to craft the face of the turkey.
Get your little one involved by painting the wooden posts, crafting the face and let them help you put all the pieces together for a stand out centerpiece that can take pride of place in the center of your dining table this year.
2. Turkey Rolls!
There’s nothing quite like a turkey roll, and these are super cute! Using pre-cut cardboard rolls, get your little one to stick googly eyes and the face onto the turkey, arranging colored card at the back for its feathers.
Depending on the age of the child, you could have the colored pieces of card pre-cut or outlined and ready for them to cut themselves.
3. Thankful For My Turkeys
This activity is fab if you’re having a big family gathering with lots of kids during the holidays.
Get each kid to write what they’re thankful for on the feathers, an adorable activity that can be kept as a keepsake for years to come.
4. Turkey Headbands
These turkey headboards are plenty of fun for kids to make and they’ll love wearing them during dinner! Use this turkey headband template to create the structure, using different colored paper or card to create the feathers.
5. Sponge Painting
This craft is one that can be enjoyed by kids from a young age, and who doesn’t like painting?!
Use plain white paper plates and add a turkey face to the plate. Get red, yellow and orange paint ready with cut up sponges. Get your little one to create the colorful turkey by dipping the sponge into the paints and printing onto the paper plate.
6. Doily Turkey
These doily turkeys are a great alternative to paper plates. Instead, use one large white doily for the base of the turkey, again using sponge painting or a paintbrush to add some color to the turkey.
7. Felt & Paper Utensil Holder
This handprint turkey utensil holder is made from a recycled toilet paper roll. The colorful paper handprints create the turkey’s feathers, while googly eyes and a beak bring it to life.
It’s an easy and fun project that also doubles as a festive table decoration!
8. Sensory Turkeys
Introduce a sensory element to the crafting by dying rice in a selection of different colors, getting your little one to glue and stick them on for this striped effect as shown below.
A fab color matching, sensory and hand eye co-ordination craft, it ticks all the boxes!
9. Turkey Fruit Cups
Get your little involved in putting some snacks together for the holidays. These fruit cups are simple but so fun.
You’ll need plastic cups, googly eyes and colored paper to create the feathers and beak.
10. Pen Pot Making
Instead of a utensil pot holder, create a pen pot! This time drawing around hands on colored paper and cutting it out to create this feathered look at the back of the pot.
11. Thanksgiving Cards
Get ready for seeing family and friends with these thoughtful handmade cards that the kids can all get involved in making.
Use paint to print their hands, using glitter or different colored paints to add as feathers, drawing little feet and a face to complete the turkey. I love this cute idea!
12. Turkey Colouring In
Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a bit of coloring in? Print some turkey coloring in templates and have them on the dining table for the kids to get stuck into so they don’t get bored.
13. Finger Painting
A classic crafting idea that little kids and beyond will love. Add a turkey shaped brown piece of card to an A4 sheet of paper, getting your kids to add a face and finger paint around the body to create a wonderfully colorful plume of feathers.
14. Fork Painting
This craft is a fork-painted turkey that uses plastic forks dipped in paint to create colorful feather textures around a paper turkey body.
It’s a fun and messy art project that kids will love, and it makes a perfect festive decoration for Thanksgiving.
15. Turkey Cupcakes
Get in the kitchen with the kids to create these delicious looking turkey cupcakes. Use a classic cupcake recipe adding cocoa powder in with the flour to create a chocolate cupcake base.
Use icing and M&M’s to create the turkey feathers and face. Guests and your kids will adore snacking on these during the holidays.
16. Polystyrene Crafting
This fun Thanksgiving craft transforms a plain polystyrene cup into a playful turkey, complete with bright feathers, googly eyes, and felt accents.
Once painted and decorated, it stands on its own, making it a charming handmade decoration that will bring plenty of festive cheer to your holiday table.
17. Paper Plate Turkeys
This adorable Thanksgiving project is a paper plate turkey craft with a footprint body. Kids paint the edges of a paper plate in bright fall colors to create the feathers, then use their footprint as the turkey’s body in the center.
Finished off with googly eyes, a beak, and a wattle, it’s a keepsake-worthy craft that doubles as holiday décor.
18. Reuse Those Fall Pumpkins
Pumpkins can really come into their own after Halloween fun! Use it as the body of the turkey, cutting out a face, feathers and wings, sticking them to the pumpkin to create your own unique turkey.
How fun would this look as a centerpiece on a table or propped up on a console table in an entryway?
19. Turkey Treat Jar
Make keepsakes for each of your guests to keep this year. These turkey mason jar treats are so easy to do and kids will love filling and crafting the jars.
You’ll need mason jars, feathers, card, googly eyes and whatever treat you’d like to fill them with.
What do you think of these Thanksgiving ideas? Happy holidays!
