40 Turkey Crafts for Thanksgiving

Turkey crafts and Activities for kids.

Thanksgiving is a great time to gather the kids together and create. I complied some of my favorite Thanksgiving ideas from around the web into one huge resource. Many of these ideas are simple to make; use materials that you probably have in your cupboards and my favorite part…take only a few minutes to set up. Perfect for squeezing in a little creating between basting the turkey, making the perfect pumpkin pie and creating that delicious praline sweet potato casserole.

Since my kids love random facts, I thought I would share a few interesting facts all about Turkeys. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving:)

Did you know…turkeys will have approximately 3,500 feathers at maturity?

1. Thanksgiving Turkey Finger Puppets from Frog Prince Paperie

2. Spin Art Turkeys from Dilly Dali Art

3. Turkey Marionettes from No Biggie

4. Craft Stick Turkey from Formula Mom

Did you know…wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.

5. Handprint Turkeys and a Thankful Jar from Rust and Sunshine

6. Origami Turkeys from Let’s Explore

7. Paper Plate Turkey from Thrifty Crafty Girl

8. Glittered TP Turkey from Work It Mom

Did you know…that six hundred seventy-five MILLION pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the US?

9. Paper Plate Turkey Wreath from A Mommys Adventures

10.Crayon Stained Glass Hand & Feet Turkey from Blog A La Cart

11. Pinecone Turkey Craft from Learn Create Love

12. Turkey Craft – toilet roll and paint chips Happy Hooligans

Did you know…turkey’s heads change colors when they get excited.

13. Easy Turkey Craft from Happy Home Fairy

14. Paper Plate Turkey from Meet the Dubiens

15. Gobble Gobble Globes from I Love to Create

16. Sculpey Turkey Finger Puppet from Twodaloo

Did you know…gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day.

17. Turkey Hat from Parents

18. Yogurt Cup Turkey from Frog and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

19. Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl-ing Make and Takes

20. Pine Cone Turkeys from A Pumpkin and A Princess

Did you know…wild turkeys sleep in trees.

21. Pom-pom Turkey Craft from She Knows

22. Paper Tube Turkeys from Silly Eagle Books

23. Popsicle Stick Thankful Turkeys from The Mama Report

24. Footprint Turkeys from Life with Moore Babies

Did you know…a male turkey is called a tom and a female is called a hen.

25. Thanksgiving Turkey Hat from Hub Pages

26. DIY Paper Stained Glass Turkeys from Happy Clippings

27. Washi Tape Turkey from Positively Splendid

28. Rainbow Turkey Craft from Formula Mom

Did you know…male turkeys gobble and female turkeys make a clicking noise.

29. Leaf Feather Turkeys for Thanksgiving from Baby Center

30. Gumdrop Turkey from design.wash.rinse.repeat

31. Sticky paper turkey dress-up and patterning from Teach Preschool

32. Flower Turkeys from Our Best Bites

Did you know…that fertilized turkey eggs hatch in 28 days.

33. Handmade Turkey Puzzle from KC Edventures

34. Golf Tee Turkey from I Can Teach My Child

35. A Plump and Perky Turkey from I Heart Crafty Things

36. Cereal box Turkeys from My Plum Pudding

Did you know…turkeys do not see well at night.

37. Milk and Cookies Turkey from I love to Create

38. No glue Make and Play Paper Bag Turkeys from No Time for Flashcards

39. Egg Carton Turkeys from School Time Snippets

40. Footprint Turkey Wreath from Momstown Arts and Crafts

Did you know…the oldest known wild turkey lived to be 13 years.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall leaf Craft for Kids

Paper Pulp Fall leaf Craft ~ Paint and Play

It is time for another Paint and Play Challenge alongside Mess for Less, Growing A Jeweled Rose and Blog Me Mom. Thanksgiving is right around the corner so it seemed like perfect theme for this weeks challenge. If your kids love sensory play, then they will love this simple Fall Leaf Craft for kids. A simple invite to play and create.

Fall Leaf Craft:

Yellow, Orange and Red Paper Pulp
White glue ~ No need to measure, just mix in a dollop of glue to each color of wet paper pulp.
Leaf shaped cookie cutter
Cookie sheet or tray

I invited the kids to simply squish the wet paper pulp into the cookie cutter. They loved the soft texture of the pulp. Our simple Spider Sensory Play and Paper Pulp Trees were also a hit. There is something so wonderful and inviting about the texture of paper pulp.

I am using the word paint very loosely (so that our project fits the Paint and Play challenge). However, the colored paper pulp works just like a thick “paint”. I love how beautiful the colors of pulp mixed and mingled together.

You can see the water squishing out from under the cookie cutter. The more water that is squeezed out, the quicker your little fall leaf with dry.

The wet pulp easily holds its shape, however take care when lifting the cookie cutter so you don’t damage the tips of the leaf. You can also gently lay a paper towel on top of the wet leaf and press lightly to remove a little more water.

I love how each of the paper pulp leaves turned out unique and beautiful.

This was such a simple project. It took a little time to create the paper pulp, however the actual project only took a few moments. It will take a few days for the leaves to dry completely. They will look beautiful as part of our Thanksgiving table.

Make sure to check out these Fun Thanksgiving Activities:

Fine Motor Corn Art from Blog Me Mom

Turkey Rockets from Growing A Jeweled Rose

Pumpkin Turkey Craft from Mess for Less

Kool-Aid Pumpkins

Fall Play Recipe ~ Pumpkin Craft

We LOVE crafting with Kool-Aid. Check the cool Easter Egg dye we made not too long ago. l Not only does Kool-Aid come in wonderfully bright colors, but it is “only pennies a glass!” My kids favorite part is the slightly overwhelming fruity smell each packet contains. Totally perfect for this adorable this Kool-aid pumpkin activity.

Kool-Aid Pumpkins:

Unsweetened Kool-Aid – we used a mix of orange and cherry for the pumpkins and lemon-lime for the stem. Don’t use the lemon flavor, it is too light to show any color. We have also used Jello in the past with great results.
Old salt shakers to make it easy for sprinkling the Kool-aid.
Spray Starch – found in the laundry isle.
Plastic report cover, or any slippery surface.
Heavy Card Stock.

Tape the report cover down to keep it from slipping around. Spray it generously with starch, and sprinkle with the Kool-aid. Old salt shakers work great for helping little fingers sprinkle the Kool-aid. This step causes the wonderful wafting smell of Kool-aid to fill the room.

Lay your card stock on top of the starch/Kool-Aid and gently rub it to make your print. Set the print aside and allow to dry completely before cutting into your desired shape. We chose to make pumpkins since fall is right around the corner, but you could use this technique for just about any shape, or simply use it as a background.

There is not need to wipe the report cover between prints. Just simply spray with more starch and sprinkle again with Kool-Aid. The residue from the last print will only add to the new one.

Once the prints dried I used a sharpie to create a simple pumpkin shape. If you are not comfortable drawing your own shape simply do a search for pumpkin coloring images and use that as your template.

For more pumpkin inspiration, check out our yarn pumpkins, paper plate pumpkins and a list of 36 No Carve Pumpkin Techniques you will love!

Check out the beautiful texture that the Kool-Aid created! The irregular and unpredictable patterns are simply stunning.

These would be so cute hung on twine as a banner. I love how they turned out, and my kids can’t stop smelling their creations.

For more Fall Pumpkin Inspiration, check out our…

Yarn Pumpkins

36 Creative No Carve Pumpkin Ideas

Pumpkin Sensory Dough

5 Minute Paper Plate Pumpkin

Pine Cone Spider Webs

It is time for another Paint and Play Challenge alongside Growing A Jeweled Rose, Mess for Less and Blog Me Mom. Today our challenge was to get messy and have fun Painting with Nature. I absolutely adore Pine Cones and love that the kids collect them everywhere we go. There is something magical about all the varieties of shapes, sizes and textures. We created spooky Pine Cone Spider Webs that are perfect for Halloween.

The kids gathered a bunch of beautiful Pine Cones from our walk and we set to work painting.

The kids rolled the Pine Cones in white paint.

I love paint covered little fingers, can you tell:)

Once the kids were satisfied by the amount of paint on the pine cone, they set it on the paper. The kids loved rolling their little pine cones in paint. I may have to set up a little station just for pine cone rolling soon. The kids had a blast just playing in the thick paint with the pine cones.

We used a lightweight tub with a piece of paper taped to the bottom.

The pinecones left interesting tracks and dots all over the black paper.

We cut the beautiful spiderweb filled paper into a circle and added a few plastic spiders.

I love the texture that the pine cones gave to these little webs. They may not have the traditional look, but I love them!

My kids also had a blast with these little Handprint Spiders and Spider Sensory Bin.

For more inspiring was to Paint and Play with Nature check out

Nature’s Ghosts and Monsters from Blog Me Mom

Fall Tree Window Painting from Mess for Less

Fall Crayon Art from Growing A Jeweled Rose

Handprint Spider

This simple Handprint Spider is a perfect decoration for Halloween and a wonderful reminder of how tiny your little ones hand are. How cute would an entire spider family be hanging on the wall…a giant Daddy spider right on down to little baby spiders. There is nothing better than little hand prints and this simple Halloween spider is a classic.

To create a handprint spider:

All you will need is some white paper and black tempera paint. You can also mix a bit of liquid dish soap into your paint to make clean up a little easier.

This is the perfect craft for a Halloween play date or a Spider Party.

Simply paint or dip your child’s palm and four fingers with black paint. No need to paint the thumb since spiders only have 8 legs;) Print onto the paper and repeat with the other hand, making sure to over lap their palms. Add a couple googly eyes and your little spider is done!

I love the little marble web the spider is nesting upon. Marble painting is such an easy activity for little ones. With younger kids, I like to marble painting in an oatmeal container. It contains the mess and I know that I am not going to have painty marbles rolling all over my house.

Mable Painted Spiderwebs:

Place your black paper into the oatmeal container
Dip marbles into white tempera paint
Drop the paint covered marbles into the container
Seal the lid on and shake.

It is such an easy process and it turns out great each time. You can find other marble painting projects that we have done here and here.

To hand your creep spider, why not frame it with a pop of color. I love how the green frame looks and just the hint of webbing makes a cute statement. I cut the marble painting into thin strips and then had the kids attach it to the back of an open frame.

For more inspiring activities, check out our favorite Fall and Halloween activities.

Have you seen my Halloween Pinterest board? It is PACKED full of creative ideas.