Preschool Turkey Craft that Teaches Thankfulness

Last Updated on October 17, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Teach thankfulness with this easy preschool turkey craft. Children are asked to share 5 things they are thankful for, and they are added to the craft. Simple and fun!

This year when I planned our easy thankful turkeys craft for preschoolers, I wanted to add some simple counting as well. I’ve done this with several other art projects, such as our ladybug craft. I love to combine learning domains while doing preschool activities.

This particular activity involved several steps: assembling the turkey, counting the sticks (“feathers”), and then sharing what we are thankful for and writing those on the sticks.

It was spread out during the course of one week while we enjoyed reading books on thankfulness and talking about what we love in our lives.

👉 FREE I am Thankful printable! Scroll down towards end of post for the download.

Preschool Turkey Craft that teaches Thankfulness

Thankful Turkeys Craft for Preschoolers

Table of Contents

Supplies

Preparation

Cut turkey beaks and feet from orange construction paper. However you want them to look.

Place a sheet of brown paper on the table for each child. Provide tissue paper circles, popsicle sticks, googly eyes and glue.

Before the Activity

Talk with the children about what they are thankful for. Scroll down to see more about this.

The Process

Roll Glue on Paper

Have the children apply glue to brown sheets of construction paper. I love using brayers when applying glue to a large area, and it’s a nice change from brushes.

Add the Pieces

Once the glue is applied, let the children select what color tissue paper circle they want and have them press it onto the glue. Add a bit more glue to the top of the tissue paper circle for the eyes and beak. Add the feet to the bottom of the circle. (Although many of our preschoolers wanted the feet on the circle, or below the circle but not touching. I did not correct them, and I certainly did not rearrange them.)

Add Some Counting

I made a simple number line with a marker and paper. I drew 5 lines and numbered each from 1 to 5. I asked the preschoolers to place one stick on each line (1:1 correspondence) and count the sticks for me. For some this was easy, and for others it was a challenge. We always have children that are on several different learning levels and that is okay.

After counting the sticks, have the children place them on the outside of the tissue paper circle. Again, some of the children placed them in different areas and I did not correct them.

Let the Artwork Dry

Add the Gobbler

Once dry, the preschoolers added a gobbler by pressing their finger onto a red stamp pad and pressing below the beak. (They don’t show well in these photos, unfortunately.)

Display the Turkeys

After mounting them on slightly larger paper, we hung them in the fellowship hall for our families to see during our Thanksgiving feast.

Talking About Thankfulness

During this time, we talked about what being thankful means. Often when we also add “what do you love”, this concept is a bit easier for preschoolers to understand. Each of the children shared what they were thankful for during a conversation we had at circle time. I jotted down their answers and wrote them on the turkey’s “feathers” (sticks).

I’ve provided a printable sheet that you can write down their answers. This would be a fun keepsake for their memory books or portfolios!