10 Turkey Crafts for Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving can be a great time to come together and create some fun things.  Here are a few ideas for family crafts.

1. Thankful Turkey

This craft is all about what everyone is thankful for. Ask each child to write what he/she is thankful for on a paper feather, then use it to give this turkey feathers.

How to make it: Cut a 1-inch sliver off the bottom of a 9-inch polystyrene ball. Wrap sphere neatly in thick dark-brown yarn, covering surface completely; knot on the bottom. Make a 4-inch ball from light-brown yarn and attach to body with a wooden craft stick. Create simple facial features using felt: white circles (approximately the size of a quarter, with 1/8-inch pom-poms for pupils) for eyes, yellow triangles for the beak, and long red felt teardrops as the wattle. Cut feather shapes from colored craft paper and bend in half lengthwise to create the seam. Glue a wooden craft stick to the bottom third of the feather and insert in a fan shape on turkey body.

 

2. Dine and Draw

A butcher paper tablecloth for the kids is an excellent way to keep the area clean of food scraps and allows kids to draw and keep entertained during the Thanksgiving meal.

How to make it: Trace dinner plate onto patterned paper; cut one for each guest. Attach to a brown butcher-paper tablecloth with double-stick tape. Cut a 2-1/2-inch square out of complementary paper and snip the edge of two corners to make utensil pocket. Attach double-stick tape to left, right, and bottom sides of pocket and bow pocket slightly before attaching to butcher-paper.

 

3. Name in Stone

Instead of using cards to mark the kid’s table place, try coating stones in brightly colored tempera paint and glue on pasta letters.

 

4. Picture Cozies

Help little kids keep an eye on their drinks with these personalized cup cozies.

How to make it: Cut a 2-inch circle out of decorative paper and cut a close-up photo of child’s face into a 1-3/4-inch circle. Center photograph on a paper circle and attach with double-stick foam tape. Adhere to cardboard cup jacket with double-sided foam tape.

 

5. Place-mat Print

A perfect craft to do this the kids! Join together as a family to create these quick and easy placemats of anything from an apple to a turkey.

What you’ll need: burlap, scissors, freezer paper, iron, red and brown textile paint, paintbrushes, printed fabric, fabric glue

Make it: Cut your burlap to 13″ x 17″, or whatever placemat size you want to use. Then, sketch your apple shape onto the paper side of freezer paper and cut it out to form a stencil. Iron the freezer paper into place on the burlap, and then paint inside the stencil with red textile paint. Once it’s dry, carefully peel your stencil away. Add a painted stem a funky leaf cut from printed fabric to finish. Pull a few threads from the edge of the placemat to make the fringe, and repeat until you have enough placemats for your whole family.

 

6. Thanksgiving Pinata

Bring out the fun with this crafty pinata! Designed from for Thanksgiving and can be filled with all kinds of treats.

Make it: Make the round pinata by covering a large balloon with newspaper strips dipped in equal parts water and flour — don’t cover the balloon’s tie. Once you?ve got 3-4 layers and the newspaper is dry, pop the balloon by cutting the tie and remove it. Cover that hole with some more dipped newspaper strips and let dry. Then, cut two slits at the top and thread a piece of rope through so your pinata is easy to hang. Cut a “trap door,” or three sides of a square, in the back, lift up the flap, and fill with candy, treats, or toys for your kids. Then, tape the trap door closed. To decorate, fold some colorful cupcake liners in half and glue them to pinata until it’s covered.

 

7. Turkey Name Cups

Never lose a cup this Thanksgiving by creating these crafty name cups. Make sure all your guests can find their cups by gluing on a few colorful turkey feathers. Write each person’s name on the feathers, and then add some googly eyes and a triangle beak to finish.

 

8. Turkey Napkin

Be sure to impress guests this year with these festive napkin buddies!

What you’ll need: Empty cardboard tubes, scissors, colored craft foam, scalloped-edge scissors, foam mounting tape, googly eyes, glue.
How to make it: Cut cardboard tubes into 1-inch-wide rings. Cut 5-x-1-1/8-inch pieces of foam; glue one around each ring. To make the turkey’s body, cut out one 2-inch circle from craft foam. For the layered “feathers,” cut out one 3-inch and one 4-inch circle from foam, then cut both in half. Trim the rounded edges with scalloped scissors. Glue the 4-inch half-circle to the center of the napkin ring; let dry. For dimension, use mounting tape to layer the 3-inch half-circle on top, then the 2-inch circle on top of that. Cut out a turkey head, beak, and wattle from foam. Glue the wattle, beak, and googly eyes to the head; let dry. Then glue the head to the center of the top circle.

 

9. Tepees & Houses

A fun little craft to help the kids decorate the house with these decorative little houses and tepees.

Tepees
What you’ll need: Dessert-size paper plates, scissors, brown chenille stems, tape, small brush, sea sponge, craft paint, craft glue.
How to make them: Cut paper plate in half. Roll ends to create a cone shape; tape to secure. Using a sea sponge, paint on a background with light-colored paint; let dry. Then, use a paintbrush to paint on designs; let dry. Cut chenille stems into three 3-1/2-inch pieces and glue to the inside of the top of the tepee.

Houses
What you’ll need: Empty pint-size milk or creamer cartons, craft glue, spray-on paint primer, craft paint, pencil, brushes.
How to make them: Glue container closed. Spray on paint primer; let dry. Paint top third of the container a darker color to resemble a roof. Paint the rest of the house a contrasting color; let dry. Use a pencil to sketch out windows and a door, then paint them on.

 

10. Indian Corn Magnet

These magnets are perfect for the fall season and can be saved to be reused next year.

What you’ll need: Kid-friendly scissors, 12-inch chenille stem, 11mm tri-beads (red, gold, orange, and clear), Raffia, Tacky glue, Small round magnet.

How to make them:

• Cut the chenille stem in half and form an X. Wrap one stem around the center of the X twice, leaving a short length of the stem. Bend the three remaining stems to form an Indian corn shape.
• String beads on each of the three long stems, alternating colors. Bend the end of each stem to secure.
• Knot a piece of raffia around the short stem. Glue a magnet to the back.

 

Source: www.parents.com