How To Craft A Perfect Thanksgiving Hand Turkey

When you think of Thanksgiving, one of the first things that come to mind is turkey. Turkey has been associated with the Thanksgiving holiday since the mid-19th century (that’s over 160 years ago)!

Thanksgiving is one the best times of the year to make crafts with kids. Hand turkeys are aBob Evans favorite and the perfect activity for children in pre-school and kindergarten practicing their scissor skills. Older children (and adults!) also will be drawn to this holiday tradition as they can get creative and crafty with their designs, including sequins, feathers or whatever their imagination can inspire.

This sweet and simple Thanksgiving hand turkey can be used as a decoration on its own, a centerpiece for the table or simply laminated for years to come.

The basics of the hand turkey are simple and we're all about simple solutions for Thanksgiving. That's why we offer the Farmhouse Feast, an entire Thanksgiving meal ready for you to take home, heat and enjoy. So while you warm up your Farmhouse Feast for the main event, you can work on these crafts with your family and friends.

Here’s what you’ll need to start crafting your own Thanksgiving hand turkey:

• Colored construction paper
• Pencil or marker
• Scissors
• Gluesticks
• Googly eyes, glitter, feathers, sequins (optional)

Now that we have our supplies, let’s get crafting!

Step 1:

First, start with the turkey’s body. Use a large piece of brown (or any color) construction paper to start constructing the turkey’s body and head.

Trace one large circle and one smaller one bigger than the other and attaching them together with glue sticks. Or, you could have your child trace a large number “8” and cut it out. If you want a more lifelike turkey, there are several online turkey templates you can print out and trace. Remember, always supervise small children who are using scissors.

Step 2:

Help your child trace their hands on different colored pieces of construction paper. We love colors like cranberry, pumpkin orange, and sage for a festive fall turkey. If you’re going for a more realistic look, stick to the tried-and-true red, orange and brown. Or, let your child show their creative flair with blue, purple, or pink! The most important thing is creating a fun Thanksgiving craft that your child will be proud of.

Step 3:

With your help and supervision, let your child cut out their outlined hand. Since the fingers (or “feathers”) are the narrowest part of the hand, they can be the most difficult to cut. If your child is having trouble cutting around those, offer to help them safely maneuver the scissors. We recommend having extra pieces of construction paper ready in case any of the “feathers” go flying. After cutting the hand traces, you’re ready to start gluing your turkey together!

Step 4:

Use glue sticks to attach the hand feathers to the turkey’s body. Attach the palm of the hand (with the fingers facing up and thumbs facing outward) to the back of the turkey’s body. To make the feathers look more full, overlap multi-colored hand cut-outs so it looks like colorful plumage. Remember, the more paper you put on your turkey, the more glue you’ll need. To avoid a mess, consider supervising your child or attaching the feathers with double-stick tape.

Step 5:

Now here comes the fun part… It’s time to start decorating your turkey hand! Your child can add googly eyes to add a fun, 3D element, cut colored pieces of construction paper into eyes, a beak, and feet or simply use markers to color in eyes, a beak, and feet. Older children might like to accent their turkey with glitter, sequins, or vibrant patterns.

To help your child appreciate the true meaning of Thanksgiving, encourage them to write what they’re thankful for this holiday season on each one of the turkey’s feathers. Make this a family Thanksgiving tradition and create new gratitude turkeys every year.

With simple handmade touches from family, your holiday will be one to remember for years to come.