Easy Thanksgiving Turkey Craft for Kids with Fall Leaves
Looking for a fun turkey craft this holiday season that’s a lot of fun for kids of all ages? Try our fun fall leaf turkey craft that uses real fall leaves kids can find themselves. This is a perfect way to make the most of beautiful fall day or start your crafting on Thanksgiving with kids!
Fun Thanksgiving Turkey Craft without Paint
One of the best parts about this easy Turkey craft is that there’s less mess involved than most other crafts. It’s a great way to create some cute turkeys with younger kids without having to break out the paint. So if painting with young kids scares or stresses you out, this is the perfect Thanksgiving craft for you!
While we believe there’s benefits to letting your child paint, we also know that you’re not always in the mood to clean up a mess. This simple craft is a fun way to still get in your Thanksgiving crafts without the paint!
Gathering You Leaves
One of the best parts about this craft is that you can gather your main supplies outside for free! We love looking at and collecting beautiful autumn leaves anyways this time of year. But now you have a wonderful way to actually use them as leaves make great feathers!
Fall Nature Walks
To get all your supplies together, we recommend taking a fun fall nature walk with your kids! We like to walk in a wooded area by the local park to see all kinds of different leaves. This is a great way to spend quality time together, get outside, and enjoy the fall time!
My kids have so much fun collecting leaves and all kinds of fall treasures. Together, we look for leaves, pine cones, feathers, or even nuts we can find on our nature walks. I encourage them to find a combination of smaller and larger leaves of all different colors.
Homemade Thanksgiving Decorations for Kids
This craft is one of the easy ways to decorate your house for Thanksgiving Day without buying any new decorations. And your kids will love looking at their handy work! So get into to the spirit of fall with this cute fall leaf craft.
Starting Your Craft
First, choose what you’re going to make your craft on. We made these leaf turkeys on orange and red construction paper to make them look even more festive. But you can use any thicker piece of paper that will hold the glue like a piece of white cardstock or even a paper plate if you don’t have paper.
The Body of the Turkey
To prep for this craft, draw or print out the turkey’s body on whatever paper you’re using. We have a free turkey template you can find here or just Google a printable template that will fit the size you need.
Color Your Turkey
Next, we recommend your kids color the turkey body on their paper using either crayons, markers, or colored pencils. It’s much easier to color the turkey before you put the turkey’s feathers on.
Add the Turkey’s Tail
Then, your child can glue the turkey’s tail on! We used regular old white glue, and the leaves stayed on great. Just make sure you use enough glue even if it seems like a lot at first.
I encourage my kids to glue down their larger leaves first followed by the smaller leaves. Real leaves may need to be smoothed down gently if they won’t sit flat enough. You can also trim the stems of the leaves if they’re too long.
Have Fun Crafting!
Crafting with little kids can seem stressful if they don’t do it ‘right’, but don’t worry. Its not really about what the turkey looks like. This craft (and all our crafts) are about having fun with your kids! By all means, help your kids put the leaves down, but don’t worry about the end result.
Try Even More Turkey Fun
Thanksgiving is a fun time of year to do crafts with kids! All of our Thanksgiving and fall craft activities are easy to complete and lots of fun for kids of all ages, even toddlers.
Handprint Turkeys
If you’re looking for another cute way to make some turkeys, next time try this handprint turkey craft. This one does involve paint, but little kids love it!
Fall Leaf Collage
If you’re looking for another fun way to use those beautiful fall leaves, try this simple leaf collage. My kids love making these easy crafts during their fall nature walks. This craft is also very little mess.
Thanksgiving Sensory Play
In between all the fun crafts, try some fun sensory play this Thanksgiving! We love sensory bins, especially themed ones that fit the time of year. Check out our super easy Thanksgiving sensory bin here. You can even add your extra fall leaves to the bin!
