Hand Crafts

This pumpkin turkey Thanksgiving craft involves decorating a pumpkin to look like a turkey, which we can assure you is easier than decorating a Thanksgiving turkey to look like a pumpkin! Kids will need help attaching the decorations.

What you'll need:

• Pumpkin
• Printed pattern
• Crayons, markers, paint, or colored pencils
• Scissors
• Thick craft glue and/or hot glue
• Toothpicks or short skewers for mini version; popsicle sticks or skewers for large version
• Thin cardboard (cereal boxes will work) for the large turkey
• Colored paper, optional

How to make it:

1. Find a place to work, and protect it with a large sheet of paper.
2. Gather all your materials.
3. Read all the directions, there will be choices to make that will determine which materials you need.

Making your Pumpkin Turkey

Step 1 - Print Patterns

Print out pattern. You might want to print it on tan paper to reduce the amount of coloring necessary. You'll need one head/wings pattern, and one extra feathers pattern. If possible, print the pattern on heavy paper.

Print a sample pattern first, to determine which size you'll want for your pumpkin. If you need a size not provided, use the basic shapes as a guideline for making your own.

Small head/wings - small feathers

Medium head/wings - medium feathers

Large head - left wing - right wing - large feathers

Step 2 - Color or Make Construction Paper Pieces

Color the turkey pieces as you wish. Another option is to use the patterns shown as patterns for cutting out construction paper versions of the turkey from brown, tan, orange and yellow construction paper. Be creative in your color choices.

Only color one side of the paper on the head and feathers, as they will be glued together in Step 4.

Step 3 - Cut Out

Cut out all the shapes, if you colored them in, on the computer printout.

If you are making the large turkey, reinforce the pieces by gluing the front of the head, both wings, and half of the tail feathers to thin cardboard. Then cut them out again.

Step 4 - Glue the Halves Together with Sticks in the Center

You will notice you have a front and a back of the head/neck, and a lot of feathers. In order to attach the head and feathers to the pumpkin, they will need a toothpick or popsicle stick attached to them so that you can poke them into the pumpkin. Put a thin layer of glue on the back side of one of the head pieces, and then position the stick so that half extends beyond the neck. Then put the other side of the head on, sandwiching the stick between the layers. Do the same for the feathers, sandwiching the stick between two feathers, with half of it extending beyond the bottom of the feather. (See illustration).

Do NOT glue the wings together, although if you want to make them stronger, you can glue them to a second piece of paper and then cut them out again.

When you are done, you should have one head, five feathers, (nine feathers for the large version) and two wings.

Let the glue dry before going on to the next part.

Step 5 - Attach the Parts to the Pumpkin

An adult will need to help young kids make a small hole through the skin where the head and feathers will go. You can use a sharp knife, scissors, awl or small screwdriver to make the holes—or an extra popsicle stick.

Once the holes are make, push the sticks into the pumpkin for the head and tail feathers. Make the tail feathers stick out in a circular fashion, kind of like a fan.

Glue the wings to the side of the pumpkin. Thumb tacks can be used to temporarily hold the wings in place while the glue dries. Another option is to use hot glue with adult supervision (or the adult doing it for young kids).

You're Done!

Once the glue has dried, remove the thumbtacks from the wings, and enjoy your decoration.

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