Colorful Turkey Craft for Kids

2K Shares

When I planned a turkey craft for our kids, I wanted to include a lesson in thankfulness.

All year long we talk with our preschoolers about being thankful for our friends and family and other important things in our life, but it’s especially emphasized before Thanksgiving.

I’ve done several different variations of this turkey craft, but I’m particularly fond of this one because it involves more fine motor and concentration. Even though this is considered a turkey craft, I allowed it to be as open-ended as possible. None of the turkeys looked the same.

Colorful Turkey Craft for Kids

What you will need:

Step 1:

Place liquid watercolors in cups and dilute with water. Flatten coffee filters and place on a flat surface. A tray is nice because it will catch the puddles. Show the children how to hold, squeeze and release the liquid watercolors from the cup to the coffee filter. The edges of each color will bleed and mix, creating new colors. Let dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Step 2:

Cut out brown turkey heads and orange beaks. (See photos for how ours looked). Invite the children to glue the head, beak, and eyes onto the colored coffee filter.

I did have a picture of a turkey on hand to show them, and we had been reading Thanksgiving turkey books, but I did not sit down and tell them where each piece needed to be placed. I let them decide that.

We talked about how many eyes a turkey has, but apparently some of the children felt their turkeys needed more.

Step 3:

Have the children dip their finger into red paint to make a gobbler.

Step 4:

I then spent some time with each child asking what he or she was thankful for. I always love the replies to this question: monster trucks, the train at the pumpkin patch, toys at the Disney store … a stuffed animal named Fletcher, dogs and cats because they are soft, a special friend, and turkeys. And there is always at least one “I am thankful for my family” or “I am thankful for my mama and daddy”.