Thanksgiving is just a few days away so I thought it would be fun to make a Thanksgiving themed craft.
Together with my preschooler K, we came up with a ridiculously simple, mess-free, and adorable Thanksgiving turkey craft using pool noodles and feathers.
This craft doesn't require any glue, but still encourages lots of fine motor practice. Plus, the final product even doubles as a puppet, which my son loved.
So, if you're looking for a simple Thanksgiving craft for toddlers or preschoolers, then give this idea a try. Let's get started!
A version of this post originally appeared on the CBC Parents website.
What You'll Need for this Thanksgiving Turkey Craft
Here's what we used for this fine motor turkey craft:
- 1 pool noodle (any color, must be the kind with a hole in the center), cut into two pieces that are roughly 1" thick
- Colorful craft feathers - You can find these at the dollar store.
- 2 toothpicks - These will be used to build the turkey's body.
- 1 wooden clothespin - This will be the turkey's beak.
- Black permanent marker - Although you could glue on some googly eyes if you'd prefer.
- Optional: a piece of red pipe cleaner - If you want to make the turkey's wattle.
I set out all of the materials in a wooden tray for my preschooler who had just turned three. He didn't want to use googly eyes for this craft project so that's why you don't see any included in the picture below.
How to Make this Pool Noodle Turkey Craft
First, the body of the turkey needs to be assembled using toothpicks and pool noodles. To do this, you simply push the two toothpicks into one pool noodle slice. Then you can attach the pool noodle slice to the other pool noodle slice to form the turkey's head and body. Like so:
Then it's time to start decorating the turkey, starting with its colorful feathers. The feathers push into the pool noodles quite easily. Your child can decide how many or what color of feathers to add. My son added quite a few and used a variety of colors.
Next, my son worked on the turkey's head and face. To make the turkey's mouth and beak, simply slide the wooden clothespin through the hole of the pool noodle slice. Then add eyes with a permanent marker (or googly eyes and glue, if you want to go that route).
My son decided to redraw the eyes so that's why the eyes ended up looking a bit deranged, but I think that's fitting, given how crazy turkeys can be. Here's how his final turkey turned out:
You could also add the turkey's wattle by inserting a small piece of red pipe cleaner into the pool noodle slice, just below the beak. This step is optional though and is not shown here.
Now that the pool noodle turkey is fully assembled, it can be played with like a puppet. Simply pinch the back of the clothespin and the turkey's mouth will open and close. Gobble gobble!
As you can see, this pool noodle Thanksgiving turkey craft is a great way to build fine motor skills. It's also great for toddlers and preschoolers, as shown by the fact that my newly turned three year old made this turkey all by himself.
