Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to utilize leaves in your craft projects. The yellow and brown colors suit turkey-themed crafts especially with the resemblance to a turkey’s feathers being a close one.
This Thanksgiving turkey craft idea allows kids to hunt for, and incorporate, these leaves into their project and take advantage of these natural materials.
It will also give them a chance to test out their drawing, tracing, and cutting skills, with a little bit of help from Mom and Dad. It is a fun way to get your kids engaged in the Thanksgiving celebrations by creating these unique decorations.
We have included detailed instructions below so you can make your own at home. Plus a time-lapse video demo of the project.
Prepare Your Leaves Turkey Materials And Craft Area
First you need to source your leaves. So head out to the backyard or local park to get your hands on some leaves on differing sizes. You will eventually layer these to create turkey feathers and you will need some large and small leaves of a consistent shape to be included in your project.
Maple leaves work best, but whatever you can find of a similar shape will do just fine.
Gather all of your other craft materials on a table with a sheet down to catch any mess – these leaves may get a bit crunchy!
Leaf Turkey Craft Video Demo
Check out the video below for a quick overview of the project.
This will help you navigate the step by step instructions once you have seen how it comes together.
How to Make a Turkey Craft With Leaves
This Thanksgiving craft idea combines your typical craft materials with some beautiful fall leaves that you can hunt for in the backyard before starting your project.
Your kids will enjoy turning something they have found in the yard into a cute decoration to put on display this Thanksgiving.
This project is easy enough for toddlers and preschoolers to complete without much supervision.
Materials
- Colored paper
- Glue
- Crayons
- Pencil
- Leaves
Instructions
Stage 1: Draw the Body Features of the Turkey
- Step 1 - Use a pencil to draw some feet and when happy with the shape trace over this with a marker to create a darker outline of your turkey feet.
- Step 2 - Repeat the above step for the turkey, making a big circle and small circle to resemble the outer edge of a figure-eight shape. This will create the body of the turkey.
- Step 3 - Draw an inverted triangle in the face area of your turkey body (the small circle) and trace with a marker to create your turkey beak.
- Step 4 - To finish off your turkey face just add some eyes, and an oblong shape under the beak for the turkey snood.
Stage 2: Color in and Cut the Turkey Features
- Step 5 - Color in all of the body parts of the turkey. Brown being the obvious color choice here for the body, yellow for the beak, and red for the snood - but your kids can have free reign of course.
- Step 6 - Cut out your turkey body and feet.
Stage 3: Assemble Your Leaves and Turkey Body
- Step 7 - We will now prepare a paper base to hold your leaves in place. Draw a half-circle with a marker on a sheet of paper, and cut around this.
- Step 8 - Start with gluing the largest of your leaves on the paper base. You can then layer these on from largest to smallest in an arrangement that resembles some ruffled turkey feathers.
- Step 9 - Now all we need to do is glue your turkey body right in the middle of your leaves in a position where the leaves are raised above the turkeys back.
- Step 10 - Your turkey leaf craft is now complete and ready for display as part of your Thanksgiving decorations.
Why Make a Leaf Turkey Craft
Falling leaves are a plenty at this time of year, and they make a colorful addition to your craft materials that closely resemble the usual turkey colors.
Plus you can have a bit of fun heading out to find them on a turkey leaf hunt that kids will love.
More Thanksgiving Craft Ideas for Kids
We have a number of Thanksgiving craft projects for you to enjoy with the family. See the full list here, or check out some of the projects below:
Final Word
There is a quick and easy Thanksgiving craft project that young kids can enjoy that utilizes a combination of natural elements and some traditional crafty elements.
Those off-colored fall leaves really add some character to this project and it will add a real homely feel to your decorations this Thanksgiving.
