Thankful Turkey Craft: How to Make & Enjoy with Kids

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This thankful turkey craft is a creative way to help your kids enjoy a meaningful holiday activity.

With just a few supplies, you'll create a thankful turkey that's made out of hearts. It's a frugal and fun way to incorporate themes of gratitude and appreciation into a hands-on project.

I'm sharing my tips for using this turkey craft, as well as ideas for customizing. Make this Thanksgiving extra special with an adorable turkey!

Gratitude + Crafts = Thanksgiving Fun!

If you need an easy and frugal way to help your kids express gratitude this Thanksgiving, you'll love this thankful turkey craft! It combines thankfulness with practicing scissor skills. Plus, the final project is colorful and cute.

So often, the focus of Thanksgiving centers on the food. When my boys were younger, I wanted to provide them with a hands-on and visual way to learn about the true meaning of the holiday. And, of course, I wanted to keep it within our limited homeschool budget.

This construction paper craft featuring a turkey was one of our favorite projects. I found several heart turkeys that each of my boys made as I was going through an old bin of DIY holiday decorations. We had used these turkeys to decorate our homeschool area (a.k.a. dining room).

I had to recreate it and share with you. Hope your students and you have a blast with these activities!

Recommended Materials for This Turkey Craft for Kids

This simple craft requires only four supplies that you probably have in your home or classroom. With a few extras (I'll share my ideas below), your students can take their turkeys to the next level if you have the time.

I suggest that you have these supplies gathered and ready so you'll be all set for craft fun with kids:

• Construction Paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Marker

How to Make This Thankful Turkey Craft

01

Cut out hearts for turkey face and body

Cut out one large but narrow heart, one medium, and two small hearts from brown construction paper.

Cut out three small hearts from yellow.

02

Cut out hearts for feathers

Cut four large hearts from other colors of your choice.

03

Arrange and glue feathers

Glue all the large colored hearts in a circle. The points should face inwards and overlap somewhat. Leave a space for the brown heart at the bottom.

04

Add turkey head, body, wings, and feet

Glue the brown heart upside down in the space that is left. Glue the medium brown heart, right side up, to the point of the large brown heart.

Glue the small brown hearts to the sides of the large brown one as wings. Glue two small yellow hearts to the bottom of the large brown, upside down, as feet. Glue the last one upside down to the face as a beak.

05

Draw on eyes and add thankful words

Draw two eyes on the face using the black marker. Also, use it to write what you’re thankful for on each of the wings.

With older kids, you can have them write what they're thankful for on the feathers. For younger kids, you can do the writing or use a pencil to lightly write the words for them to trace.

Keep The Turkey Fun Going

Planning and preparing an educational theme with turkey or the letter "Tt"? Or want some fantastic ways to boost your Thanksgiving with kids? Books, games, and stickers can make it extra fun.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey!How to Catch a TurkeyTurkeys (Bullfrog Books: Animals on the Farm)Turkeys (Nature & Science)T is for Turkey: A True Thanksgiving StoryTeacher Created Resources Turkeys Stickers (TCR6943)Thanksgiving Stickers for Kids - 30pcs Thanksgiving Stickers Turkey Stickers DIY Thanksgiving Stickers Thanksgiving Decorations Thanksgiving Stickers for Kids

Ideas for Making and Using These Turkey Crafts with Hearts

This type of turkey craft can be used in a variety of ways for holiday fun. Plus, you can customize it with just a few extras. Need a bit of inspiration on how to make and display? Here are some of my ideas:

Add some customization to your DIY turkeys by using different colors of construction paper for the feathers, even the head and body. Let your students get creative and design unique turkeys!

Brainstorm things that your kids are thankful for - like family, friends, pets, and food. Talk about what gratitude means. Add extra

Glitter glue can also add sparkle and texture to your project. Oh, and googly eyes can be a silly effect!

Make several thankful turkeys. Attach to string (or yarn) with glue or stapler to make a banner. Hang the decoration on a wall, fireplace mantle, or at the top of a doorway.

Adhere a magnet to the back of the turkey craft. Use to add some special Thanksgiving decor to a refrigerator or magnetic white board.

Place a turkey or two in an Thanksgiving-themed wreath. You can also use in a Thanksgiving centerpiece or use as part of place cards!

And consider making a thankful turkey for a family member or friend with special reasons why you're so grateful for them!

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