Thankful Styrofoam Turkey

What would Thanksgiving be without turkey crafts for the kids to make? Turning them into a thankful craft is always a fun idea. A way for kids to express what they are thankful for without the fear of public speaking. You know, making them stand at the table in front of all the relatives and state what they are thankful for? :) Now they can write it down and everyone can see!

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Because Styrofoam is so easy to work with and toothpicks go right into it, this is an awesome project kids can complete without much help from a grown up. That makes it an idea project for them to create as guests arrive and you’re busy in the kitchen. Just do the painting step ahead of time so they don’t mess up their good clothes!

You’ll need two Styrofoam discs and a Styrofoam ball. Cut the ball in half and save the other half for another project.

Paint the discs and the ball half with brown paint and set aside to dry.

Cut red felt into a heart shape for the gobbler and the orange felt into a diamond for the beak.

Cut out pairs of feathers from the construction paper. Have children use markers to write things they are thankful for on the feathers (family, toys, God, health, etc).

HINT: Assemble the feathers but don’t write the words on them yet. You can have kids do that as guests arrive. Write a guest’s name on the feather along with what they are thankful for.

Pair up the feathers by color, making sure the writing is on the outsides and glue together with white glue, insert a toothpick into the bottom of the feather pair and press together to secure.

Glue the gobbler, beak and googly eyes to the half ball then hot glue the head to the body. Assemble the foam turkey by connecting the two discs with a toothpick and some glue. Glue on the buttons.

Kids can insert the feather picks into the top of the Styrofoam body, the words will be visible from the front and the back.

There, wasn’t that fun? You can click here to tweet this project if you would like to share!

More Turkey Crafts for Kids

You might remember these turkey napkin rings from last years. Kids use their fingerprints to make the turkeys! This family handprint turkey uses all family members’ handprints, not just the child! And speaking of handprints, make this Thanksgiving handprint tree for the big day. :) I also found this really cute printable turkey that you add one of those round lip balms to, so cute!

Print Project

Thankful Styrofoam Turkey

Supplies

• 2- 5 ” white Styrofoam discs
• 1- 3 ” white Styrofoam ball cut in half
• 2 googly eyes
• Red and orange felt
• Brown craft paint
• 2 large buttons
• Toothpicks
• Hot glue gun
• Construction paper: green brown, red, orange, yellow
• Markers
• White craft glue

Instructions

• Paint the discs and the ball half with brown paint and set aside to dry.
• Cut red felt into a heart shape for the gobbler and the orange felt into a diamond for the beak.
• Cut out pairs of feathers from the construction paper. Have children use markers to write things they are thankful for on the feathers (family, toys, God, health, etc).
• Pair p the feathers by color, making sure the writing is on the outsides and glue together with white glue, insert a toothpick into the bottom of the feather pair and press together to secure.
• Glue the gobbler, beak and googly eyes to the half ball then hot glue the head to the body. Assemble the foam turkey by connecting the two discs with a toothpick and some glue. Glue on the buttons.
• Kids can insert the feather picks into the top of the Styrofoam body, the words will be visible from the front and the back.