Easy Thanksgiving Pumpkin Turkey Craft Project

You can easily make a turkey craft for Thanksgiving using a pumpkin. There is a wide variety of different sizes, shapes and colors of pumpkins that you could use. Pumpkin turkeys make great centerpieces or place settings for your guests on the Thanksgiving table. To make a pumpkin turkey craft, you will also need a package of multicolored construction paper, some cardboard boxes, a pair of scissors, hot glue, craft glue and some round toothpicks or craft sticks. Spread newspaper on your work surface before you get started.

Use a pencil to draw the turkey's head, wings, feet and tail feathers on the construction paper. Make sure that the turkey's parts are the right for the size for the pumpkin you've chosen. You will need about 9 turkey tail feathers for a large pumpkin, 5 for a medium sized pumpkin and 3 for a mini-pumpkin. If you like, you can trace your children's hands to create the pumpkin turkey's tail feathers. Vary the colors of the turkey's body parts to keep the turkey craft interesting. If you're using an orange pumpkin, use fall colors such as orange, red, brown, green and yellow. If you're using a white pumpkin, include some unusual colors such as white, purple and blue to make your turkey's body parts. Draw striations on the feathers and draw feathers on the wings using black permanent marker, colored pencils or crayons. Get two google eyes, then cut out yellow triangle beak and a red gobbler from construction paper and attach them to the turkey's face using craft glue.

Cut about an inch outside the outlines of your drawings and use craft glue to attach the construction paper turkey parts to the unfinished side of a cardboard box such as a cereal or frozen pizza box. Then cut out the turkey's body parts around the outlines.

Spread some craft glue on the backs of the turkey head and feather pieces. Attach craft sticks to the turkey body parts if you're using a large pumpkin. Attach toothpicks to the backs of the turkey parts if you're using a mini-pumpkin. Allow the glue to dry completely before continuing. Use a knife to create holes in the large pumpkin to insert the craft sticks. Use a skewer to make holes in the mini-pumpkin to insert the toothpicks. Insert the turkey's body parts into the pumpkin. Make sure that the turkey's head sticks upward at at least a 45 degree angle and that the tail feathers gradually fan outward at the back of the pumpkin. Attach the turkey wings to the sides and the feet to the bottom of the pumpkin using hot glue.

For more Thanksgiving craft ideas, read Thanksgiving Craft: Pine Cone Turkey, Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids: Handprint Turkey and Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids: Draw a Turkey Picture.