Every year I do a couple little turkey crafts with my kids. My older boys still participate. Though their turkeys each have at least 10 eyes and look more like aliens then turkeys.
This year we made a handprint turkey, pinecone turkey and yarn ball turkey. All pretty easy and took less than 10 minutes each. I used a hot glue gun to glue them together and my older kids helped my little ones. If you wanted a bunch of kids to do these you would want to use elmers or some other kid safe glue that would be safe and not get anyone burned!
For the little yarn turkey you will need:
Felt
Yarn
Styrofoam ball
Googly eyes
Little piece of cardboard for the bottom
Start by putting a little dab of glue on the styrofoam to secure the beginning of your yarn.
Wrap the yarn around the ball. I usually do about 5 passes and then change directions slightly so that eventually you have moved around the the whole ball.
Once your ball is totally covered in yarn cut the yarn and then glue the end to the ball.
Cut out the turkey parts from felt.
Glue the eyes and Beak onto the yarn ball. Glue the little square of cardboard onto the bottom so that the turkey won't be rolling all over!
Once you glue on your felt feathers your turkey is all finished!
For the pinecone turkey you need:
Feathers (I got mine in a package of 40 for $3 at Walmart)
Pinecone (we used those scented ones you see for sale all over)
Googly eyes
Felt
Cut all the turkey parts out of your felt. You need a round piece for the face, two feet, and a beak.
Glue the face and feet onto your turkey. My kids told me that I should have chosen a different color for the face because my turkey looks like a duck.
Put a big dab of glue onto each feather and just shove it down into the pinecone.
Ta-da!
The handprint turkey is by far the messiest. Mine involved paint and a 3 year old. Messy combo.
For the handprint turkey you need:
Paper (I used two 12x12 scrapbook papers cut in half)
Craft paint
Brushes
Googly Eyes
Little piece of orange paper cut into triangle for the beak
Start by covering yourself and child head to toe in plastic. Have a hose or bucket of water sitting nearby for quick cleanup. I was brave and just wore an apron. Paint each finger with a separate paint brush so the paints don't get mixed together.
Gently put the little fingers onto paper and pick straight up so it doesn't smear. (It totally will end up smeared unless your three year old is super cooperative) The mess is most of the fun.
Let the handprints dry and then cut them out.
Glue on a googly eye and orange triangle and your cute handprint is a turkey! Magic!
We have a huge flock of turkeys living at our house now! Have fun crafting with your kids!
