Inside: A fun and easy paper plate handprint turkey craft for preschoolers to make for Thanksgiving.
I love doing season crafts with my kids and paper plate crafts are some of my favorites.
This handprint turkey is so fun and easy to make. Plus the turkey stands on it’s own making it a fun homemade Thanksgiving decoration.
I’m sure you have seen multiple ideas for making a turkey out of a paper plate, but this one is different.
How is it different? The turkey stands up.
Paper Plate Handprint Turkey
This turkey is so cute and the perfect craft leading up to Thanksgiving. It’s simple to put together and you only need a few basic supplies.
Paper Plate Turkey Supplies
- 2 paper plates
- colored paper for handprints, beak and wattle (we use cheap construction paper)
- glue
- googly eyes
- scissors
- crayons/markers/colored pencils
- stapler
Now that you have a list of the needed supplies lets get to the exciting part of making the turkey.
Paper Plate Handprint Turkey Craft for Kids
The first step to making this cute turkey craft is tracing and cutting out handprints.
You can trace your child’s hands multiple times or if you need to just trace it once and cut it out to use as a template.
Cut out the Handprint Feathers
You want to have 5-6 handprints for each turkey in various colors. All of our handprints were in red, orange and yellow.
While you have the scissors out you are going to cut the bottom inch or so off your paper plates.
Stack two plates together and cut the bottom so it’s a flat edge for the plates to stand.
Make the Turkey Head and Body
Now take one of your plates and color the backside of the plate to create your turkey head and body.
Once your child is done coloring the back of the plate you can add googly eyes, a beak and the wattle (the red dangly thing on a turkey).
I had the beak and wattle cut out before we start the craft, but if you do this with older kids they can cut it out themselves. (I cut the corner of an orange paper for the beak and then cut a random squiggle out of red paper for the wattle).
After attaching the face of your turkey to the plate it’s time to add the feathers.
Putting the Turkey Craft Together
I had my kids get the other paper plate and glue or tape the handprints to the top of the plate with the fingers poking up around the plate (not the flat edge).
After attaching the handprint feathers it’s time to put the whole turkey together.
Put the two paper plates with the tops of the plates facing each other. The handprints should be squished between the two plates.
Use a stapler and go around the plates stapling them together. Don’t staple the flat side of the plates.
Once it’s all stapled together you should have a cute paper plate turkey with handprint feathers that will stand on its own.
If the plates are to thin to stand on their own (some plates are super cheap) you can put a little tea light or something inside for the plate to stay slightly open around and more stable.
Pro Tip: If you are doing this craft with young kids (Toddlers or preschoolers) I would recommend doing a couple of things before you start. Cut the bottom inch off of the plates so the bottom is flat, trace and cut the handprints, and cut the beak and wattle so they are ready to go.
I hope you enjoy this cute Thanksgiving turkey craft, continue reading for a few more fun craft ideas for Thanksgiving.
More Thanksgiving Activities for Kids
Here are a few more Thanksgiving activities we love doing with our kids each fall.
Handprint Turkey Craft – Turn a cute handprint into a fun turkey to decorate with this Thanksgiving.
3-D Paper Bag Turkey Craft – Use paper lunch bags to make this BIG turkey craft the kids will love!
Free Printable Gratitude Leaves – Use these free printable leaves as a fun way to make gratitude a part of your daily life this November.
How to Cooke a Turkey Mini Book – This cute printable mini book has fun questions for kids to answer and space for them to color all the steps of cooking a turkey.