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How to Make a Paper Turkey Craft – Step-by-Step Tutorial

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Making a paper turkey craft is a fun and easy Thanksgiving activity for kids With just some simple craft supplies like construction paper, googly eyes and glue, you can create a cute paper turkey in no time. This step-by-step tutorial covers everything you need to know to make an adorable paper turkey craft with your kids

Benefits of Making Paper Turkeys

Crafting paper turkeys with kids offers many benefits:

  • Fun holiday activity for kids
  • Practice fine motor skills like cutting, gluing
  • Learn about turkey anatomy and features
  • Opportunity to discuss thankfulness
  • Decorate home and make holiday gifts

Overall it’s a fun festive way to celebrate Thanksgiving with kids!

Paper Turkey Craft Supplies

To make paper turkey crafts, you will need:

  • Brown, tan or beige construction paper for the body
  • Assorted construction paper for feathers
  • Googly eyes
  • Glue or tape
  • Scissors
  • Paper fastener or stapler
  • Hole punch
  • Marker to write name or thankfulness (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these steps to make a paper turkey craft

  1. Print or draw a turkey template with body and feather shapes.

  2. Trace the templates onto construction paper. Cut out the turkey body and multiple feathers.

  3. Take the turkey body and glue or tape on googly eyes and a beak. You can draw these features too.

  4. Arrange the feathers on the back of the turkey body. Glue or staple the feathers in place.

  5. Optional: Use a hole punch and paper fastener to attach feathers for movable wings.

  6. Add legs by folding paper or gluing craft sticks. Write your name or thankfulness on feathers!

Turkey Craft Tips and Variations

  • For toddlers, have them glue prepared feathers onto a printed body
  • Trace your child’s hand for feathers instead of pre-cut feathers
  • Make a family by having each child create a turkey
  • Display paper turkeys on a Thanksgiving bulletin board
  • Create turkeys in different sizes – small for kids to gigantic classroom turkeys!

Let the kids get creative with craft materials to make unique and whimsical turkeys. The possibilities are endless!

Making festive paper turkeys is an easy, enjoyable craft project for Thanksgiving. With just construction paper, googly eyes, glue and simple tools like scissors, kids can create adorable turkeys to display or give as holiday gifts. Follow the step-by-step guide to create your own paper turkeys!

how to make a paper turkey

Using the Paint Method

  • 1 Paint the bottom of your foot brown and your toes orange. The imprint of your foot will act as the body and feet of the turkey. Paint your foot brown using a brush or your fingers. You can buy finger paint at most art stores.[2]
    • Read how to fingerpaint for more ideas on finger painting.
    • Spread out a tarp or tablecloth to prevent paint from getting on your furniture or floor.[3]
  • 2 Plant your foot onto a white piece of paper. After you put your foot on the paper, the paint should form an that somewhat resembles a turkeys body. Once you are done planting your foot on the paper, wipe it down with a rag or clean-wipe, so you dont make a mess.
  • 3 Paint your hand red and plant it onto a separate piece of white paper. These handprints will make up your turkeys wings and feathers. You will repeat this step with different colors to create a full set of feathers for your turkey.
    • You can also replace your handprints with feathers to emulate the turkeys wings and feathers.
  • 4 Paint your hand orange then yellow and layer it over your red handprint. Plant your hand down over the red handprint. Put your hand at an angle, so it looks like the handprint has 8 to 10 fingers.[4] Clean off your hand and repeat the process using yellow.
    • Feel free to get creative and layer your handprints however you want if you dont like the way it looks.
    • Use one hand when fingerpainting so your other hand is clean and free to touch other things.
  • 5 Cut out a red piece of construction paper to form the turkeys wattle. The wattle is the red piece of skin that hangs from the turkeys neck. Its one of the things that distinguishes the turkey from other birds. The wattle should look like a red tear drop.
  • 6 Cut out an orange triangle to form the turkeys beak. Use an orange piece of construction paper to cut out the turkeys beak. You can either do this freehand or use a pencil to outline the beak and then cut it out with scissors.
  • 7 Draw eyes on the heel of your footprint. Draw eyes near the heel of the brown imprint of your foot to represent the turkeys eyes. You can also paste on googly eyes if you want to give your bird a sillier feeling.
    • If you arent artistically inclined, two black circles made with marker is good enough.[5]
    • Make sure that your footprint paint has fully dried before drawing anything on it.
  • 8 Glue on the rest of your turkeys pieces. Glue the beak under the eyes and the wattle. The wattle sits under the turkeys beak. This will complete your turkeys face. You can add other features like a smile or eyeglasses if you want a goofier looking turkey.
  • 9 Cut out the handprints. Wait until your handprints are dry before cutting them out. Cut around the outside of the print using scissors. Its okay to leave a little bit of a white outline around your paint.
  • 10 Glue or tape your feathers to the side of your footprint. Tape or glue your handprints behind the turkeys body. If laminating your turkey, you can position the pieces the way that you want them and run it through the laminator instead of gluing them together.[6] Center the handprints behind the turkey so that they look like they are rising behind the heel of your cutout. This completes your turkey project.
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Using Colored Pencils

  • 1 Trace an outline of your hand. Trace around your hands fingers and thumb. The thumb will be the face of your turkey, the hand will represent the body, and your fingers will represent its feathers. You can use any color of pencil you want for the outline, but make sure that the color stands out so people can see it.
    • If you use regular computer paper, your final product may be flimsy or fragile. Instead of using regular paper, consider using cardstock or white construction paper.
    • Good colors for the outline of your turkey include dark blue or black colored pencils.
  • 2 Draw on the eyes and beak of your bird. Draw a small triangle on the end of your thumb, to resemble the beak of the bird. You can also draw a wattle, which looks like a red tear drop under the beak. Draw a circle with a black dot in the middle to represent your turkeys eye.[7]
    • The beak of the bird should be orange, while the wattle is usually red.
  • 3 Color in the body of your bird. Use a brown or yellow colored pencil to color in the body of the bird. If you want to make colorful wings, choose different colored pencils. Use brighter colors like green, red, yellow and orange to make the colors pop. To make your birds feathers look realistic, use quick strokes. Once youre done coloring the turkey, youre done with the project.[8]
    • You can glue candy corn to your fingers to give your feathers a more colorful look.[9]
    • You can also draw feet onto the bird with yellow colored pencils.
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How To Make A Paper Turkey Craft For Preschoolers

FAQ

How do you make a paper plate step by step?

  1. Step 1: Prep the Plate Mold and Paper Mache. After gathering your supplies, begin by making the paper mache paste. …
  2. Step 2: Apply the Paper Mache. Rip the magazine or newspaper pages into strips that are 2 – 3 inches wide. …
  3. Step 3: Trim the Plates to Shape. …
  4. Step 4: Remove the Plates From the Mold.

How to make thankful turkeys?

Instructions
  1. Cut out shapes for the body of the turkey and feathers.
  2. Write what you are thankful for on each of the turkey’s feathers.
  3. Glue the feathers to the body of the turkey.
  4. Glue 2 googly eyes and a shape in the form of a beak to the turkey’s head.

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