Thanksgiving Art Project for Kids

When I was a little girl, I remember thinking that Thanksgiving dinner took forever to get ready. Between being hungry and feeling the anticipation and excitement of the holiday, any waiting time was thought of as an eternity. With my little boy being born this year, I realized that within a very few years I will also have to deal with that question “Is dinner ready yet?” and the never ending complaint “I’m hungry!” Right now it feels far away, but I know it will come quickly.

Because Thanksgiving is next week (where did the time go??!?!!), I thought it might be fun to fit in a craft blog post that was all about the kids and what they can do while us moms are in the kitchen. Now, being that I come from a huge family (over 100 people just on one side), I am used to having lots of people around for family gatherings of all kinds. So when you have those adults who need to do something and those kids who need something to do, you can give them this craft and tell them, lovingly, to get out of the kitchen.

The fun thing about this project is that it is really easy to customize to your littles and your house. Have babies? They can do this with help. Got crazy toddlers? Maybe use markers or crayons instead of paints. Whether you have artsy kids or not, this Thanksgiving Art project can be done by anyone.

I’ll take you through how I completed this fun turkey art project with my 5 month old, and then I’ll give you lots of different ways that you can alter it to fit your needs. Isn’t that what art is all about? Making something creative that’s your own?

What do you need:

• Paint, markers, crayons, or colored pencils: Paint always seems to make kids feel like what art project they are doing is special, but please, don’t feel like you have to put yourself under that pressure if you know it will just stress you out. I’ll show you how to complete this project with any of these supplies, and no matter what, it will turn out just fine.
• Paper: You can use art paper, construction paper, or whatever you have on hand. Personally, I just used an extra piece of copy paper because that is what was easiest for me.
• Table Covering: Trash bags work great for this, or cheap plastic table cloths. Anything to contain potential spills or drips.
• Paint Brushes, Paint Palette, and Water: You obviously only need these if you decide to use paint. You could also use a paper plate for the paint or plastic cups depending on how many people are doing the project. Also, it is helpful to have a larger brush for making the turkey’s body and then a small brush for the finer details.
• Wet Washcloth: This is the perfect tool to clean painted hands or feet, and you can easily rinse it out and keep using. Paper towels or even baby wipes could be substituted, but in my experience, they don’t hold up as well to paint.
• Mess-Making Space: This may seem like a no brainer, but if you are traveling for the holidays or you are celebrating in someone else’s home, it’s the polite thing to check in with them before deciding to start a project. You can easily switch out the paint for one of the other options if that is what your host or others would prefer.

How to make the Thanksgiving Turkey:

1. First, start off by covering the table or area you plan to use for the art project with the table covering you chose.
2. Second, grab all of your supplies, and start getting the paint ready for brushes. Remember, a little goes a long way, and it’s better to have to add more than to have too much.
3. Next, you will start by picking colors for making the feathers and the body of the turkey. I chose the colors brown, green, yellow, red, and black for the details. Whatever colors you use, I suggest that you use a darker color for the body of turkey to make sure it can be seen easily, but there really is no rules for which color to use. Be creative!
4. Then, you will start by making the feathers of the turkey. For my little one, I used his foot (babies like to stick their fingers in their mouths, and paint isn’t the best for eating ;)), but toddlers and older children could easily use their hands. Use the paint brush to cover your hand with the feather color of your choice. You want enough paint that the hand/foot is covered, but not so much that it is dripping.
5. Once sufficiently covered in paint, place the hand/foot on the paper where you desire the first feather to go making sure to leave a small circle of space empty in the bottom center of the feathers for the turkey body. All of the feathers should line up around the edge of the circle to create a sort of arc shape. You can continue adding feathers in the same way. Use the washcloth to wipe off excess paint or to change to another color.
6. After you have added desired feathers, you will need to add the body to the bottom center section. Older children and toddlers can paint their thumb and put the print right in the middle of the space with the thumb as the head. For babies, you can make the heel of their foot the head of the turkey and place their upside down footprint in the middle of the space left for the body.
7. Now, all that is left are the details of the turkey. You can use the black paint to add eyes and legs, and a little yellow for the beak. Older kiddos can continue adding details, even to the feathers or background.
8. Let the turkeys dry, and you can even have the kiddos write out a list of what they are grateful for to go with it.

Notes:

• To do this without paints, you can have the little artists trace their hands and thumbs with whatever art supply you choose to create the turkey and then color in each piece. This will take longer to create each piece, which could be a good thing, but the colors will not stand out as well when overlapped.
• Older kiddos who want to add details to the feathers should wait until they are completely dry. Otherwise their details will mix with the feather colors instead of decorating them further.
• My little one loved getting to do this at 5 months old, so if you have a baby that just wants to be part of everything, you definitely can make it work. However, you will want to make sure they are only wearing a onesie to limit the chance they could get it on something else, and be sure to wash their foot thoroughly once you have finished.
• Another option is to create this project with different colored paper instead. If you choose to do this, you would need enough scissors and glue sticks to complete this process. This may be an option for older children who may prefer a less messy art project than with paint.

If you do this project, I would love to see how it turns out! You can leave a comment or send me a message on Instagram or Facebook to let me know. Hope you try this out and have fun!

Stay creative!

-Chelsey