An easy Thanksgiving Craft for Kids–they’ll love it!

Happy Thanksgiving (weekend) my Canadian friends! And for my American friends, tuck this Thanksgiving centerpiece craft for kids in your back pocket for next month.

Kids love to be involved in big family celebrations and, in particular, feel pride when they can create something that is shared and enjoyed by everyone. An easy centerpiece craft is great way for kids to do just that!

This turkey-lurky is a craft Mary made with the kids at the local library and all the turkeys looked completely different even though the kids used the same supplies. I love how kids always add their own flair to their crafts. It’s unique and creative and also a form of self-expression. Who knew, eh?

How to Make a Turkey/Thanksgiving Centerpiece Craft

You’ll need the following supplies:

• terracotta pot* (small)
• feathers
• craft foam sheets (brown, orange, red) — if you don’t have foam sheets, you can easily use construction paper
• white glue (or a hot glue gun along with adult assistance)
• googly eyes
• fuzzy pompom balls
• scissors
• pen (you may want to sketch out the pieces before cutting and pen works a bit better than pencil on foam sheets–although pencil can work as well)

Using a brown sheet of crafting foam cut it into a long keyhole shape (see photo above). Cut a beak out of orange foam, and a mouth out of red foam. Then cut out that funny wattle shape turkeys have. (Also red–although if your kids are partial to purple or green, go with the flow.)

Glue the face parts, including googly eyes, on to the keyhole-shaped piece. (The fat part is the face, and the longer part is the neck which will be partly hidden from view when it is glued into the pot.

Glue the head onto the pot at the base of the neck. (Tuck it inside the pot.) Glue feathers–standing up–on the other side of the pot’s inside.

Along the last of the exposed rim, add the fuzzy pompoms. Why? ‘Cause they look cool.

Voila! A Thanksgiving Centerpiece. (Or, if you are teaching a unit on farm animals or birds, you now have an easy turkey craft for your classroom of little turkeys.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Do you usually have a centerpiece? Have your kids ever made one for you?

*No terracotta pot? Try using a small yogurt container and either painting it brown with thick paint or even better–no flaking worries(and easier)–try covering it with construction paper.