DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Turkey Paper
Plate Craft
I sometimes receive emails from people indicating that some of the crafts on the site seem too young for ages 7 and up, but my troop of 7, 8 and 9 year old Brownies really enjoyed a project just like this (in their case it was a peacock).
I think tying 'younger' crafts in with learning while crafting is a good way to make projects suitable for older children. The older children are able to work independently and divide their attention between listening and crafting which leaves the adults free to read a book, share a slide show or have a Q&A time about the topic being shared.
Materials:
- paper plate,
- markers or pencil crayons (browns, reds, oranges)
- brown and red paint (we used tempra paint)
- template pieces I've provided (printer, paper and something to color with) or make your own by tracing the shapes onto construction paper.
- scissors,
- glue,
- stapler (optional, but it holds the body onto the plate quickly).
Directions
- On a paper plate, draw lines with brown, red and orange shades of markers or pencil crayons, the lines should all cross in the center of the plate.
- Have the children dip their index finger into brown paint and make fingerprints here and there on the plate.
- Optional: let dry at this point -- we never do, but you could.
- Now have the children dip their pinkie finger into red paint and make a pinkie fingerprint in the center of each index fingerprint they made in the previous step.
- Set the plates aside to dry.
WHILE THAT'S DRYING, make the body:. - Print out the template of choice and color if using the B&W option.
- I made the body brown, eyes black, gobbler red and beak orange
on the color version. This fairly closely matches real turkey
colors, but you can let the kids get creative when they color in
the B&W version
OR. - Make your own template pieces by tracing the pieces from the B&W template onto a piece of cardboard or the lid of a plastic ice cream container. Cut these out before craft time. Now let the children trace the pieces onto construction paper.
- I made the body brown, eyes black, gobbler red and beak orange
on the color version. This fairly closely matches real turkey
colors, but you can let the kids get creative when they color in
the B&W version
- Cut out the template pieces.
- Assemble the body:
- the body is the largest piece -- it looks a bit like a peanut... the head is the narrow part
- Glue the eyes, gobbler and beak onto the head (you could substitute wiggly eyes for the template ones or just use a black marker to draw on eyes)
- Glue the feet onto the bottom of the boddy.
- Glue or staple the body to the plate and you're done your turkey!
Craft Templates:
- Close template window when done printing to return to this screen.
- Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).
Template (color) or (B&W)
Printable version of these instructions
Paper Turkey Craft
Thanksgiving printable chore charts - this is actually a great time of year to model good behaviour for your kids by making 'chore chart checklists' for the grown ups too. My daughters always buy in to things when it's something everyone does, not just "little kids".