Have kids learn about Thanksgiving with this hands-on paper craft that combines a cute gobbler and a pilgrim. This pilgrim turkey craft will have them creating a festive turkey dressed up in a classic pilgrim hat and collar. All they’ll need are some simple supplies like colored paper, scissors, and glue to make this Thanksgiving friend.

Help your little turkeys connect to the holiday in a fun way with these other turkey activities for kids. They’ll keep the holiday excitement going all November long!

Collage featuring a completed pilgrim turkey craft with feathers and black hat, and other Thanksgiving turkey craft variations.

Pilgrim Turkey Costume

Your kiddos will love making this paper project! They’ll cut out feathers, a pilgrim hat, and the buckle to place on it, turning it into a character from Thanksgiving’s past. This creative activity combines history and storytelling with art time to create a cute keepsake for families to display.

Projects like this support early learning by encouraging creativity, boosting fine motor skills, and giving kids an opportunity to practice using their hand-eye coordination. It’s also a fun way to talk about Thanksgiving history while keeping kids engaged.

Gather some construction paper, scissors, glue, and our free printable turkey template to get started on the Thanksgiving fun. This simple activity will keep kids entertained and learning to build excitement for the holiday!

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Pilgrim Turkey Template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Click here to see our favorite kids’ craft supplies.

Directions

Start by downloading and printing the template. Once the template is printed, gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this pilgrim turkey to life!

Hands holding a Thanksgiving turkey coloring page.

Take the eyes and glue them onto the turkey’s face.

Hands attaching googly eyes to a brown paper craft in the shape of the number eight.

Next, take the shirt cutout and glue it onto the turkey’s body, right below the head.

Hands applying a black shirt cutout to a brown paper craft body with attached eyes.

Glue the white collar piece along the top edge of the black shirt cutout, just below the head. It’s starting to look like a pilgrim now!

Hands gluing a white collar cutout onto the black shirt of the paper pilgrim craft.

Click here to see why I recommend these craft supplies

Find the red snood and glue it onto the turkey’s face, just below the left eye, so it hangs down beside where the beak will go.

Hands placing a red snood onto the paper pilgrim's face.

Next, take the yellow beak and glue it right on top of the snood, in between the eyes.

Hands placing a red snood and a yellow beak onto the paper pilgrim's face.

Glue the wings onto both sides of the back of the shirt, right where the arms would be.

Hands sticking the wing onto the black shirt of the paper pilgrim craft.

Grab the turkey’s feet. Glue them to the back and bottom of the turkey’s body.

Hands adding orange legs and feet to the bottom of the paper pilgrim turkey craft.

It’s time for the iconic pilgrim hat! Take the hat piece and glue it right on top of the turkey’s head.

Hands securing a black pilgrim hat to the top of the paper turkey craft's head.

Glue the hat band (the thin brown strip) in the middle of the hat.

Hands placing a brown paper strip as a band and yellow paper buckle on the black pilgrim hat.

Add the buckle! Glue the small orange buckle onto the hat band, right in the center of the black pilgrim hat.

Hands applying a small orange buckle to the band of the black pilgrim hat on the turkey craft.

Complete the pilgrim’s hat by gluing the inner piece of the buckle onto the center of the outer buckle.

Hands securing a small orange buckle to the band of the black pilgrim hat on the turkey craft.

Now for the final and best part: the tail feathers! Glue the feathers to the back of the turkey’s body, making sure they peek out nicely from behind the pilgrim outfit.

Hands gluing paper feathers behind the paper pilgrim turkey craft's body.

Voila! Your adorable paper pilgrim turkey craft is finished! Isn’t it wonderful? This makes such a cute decoration for Thanksgiving. We think your kids will have so much fun creating it! Be sure to check out our favorite turkey disguise projects for more creative Thanksgiving fun.

A completed craft of a paper pilgrim turkey with feathers.

Cupcake Liner Turkey Craft

Thanksgiving Books For Kids

Turkey Trouble – If you’ve never read this book, you have to add it to your holiday collection! It’s so cute and fun and kids just love it! Follow the turkey around the farm as he disguises himself as different animals so the farmer doesn’t catch him for Thanksgiving dinner!

How To Catch A Turkey – Kids who love the How To Catch books will want to see all the crazy contraptions kids make to try to catch a turkey loose at the school!

Pete The Cat: The First Thanksgiving -Every Pete the Cat book is fantastic, but this one takes it up a notch with flaps for the kids to open. It’s a great way to get the kids excited about reading and Thanksgiving!

A completed craft of a paper pilgrim turkey with large red tail feathers.

Thanksgiving Kid Crafts

Turkey Crayon Disguise Craft – Your little ones can help the turkey don a disguise to keep it safe this Thanksgiving. They can pick their favorite color to make him look like a crayon and decorate the turkey’s feathers to look like the iconic yellow and green box of crayons. It’s a good mix of creativity and holiday excitement!

Shape Turkey Craft – Turn math into holiday fun with this adorable turkey made out of basic shapes. Kids will love seeing their turkey come together by combining circles, triangles, and rectangles. It’s a simple, hands-on way to practice early math skills and celebrate Thanksgiving.

Simple Paper Bag Pilgrim Craft

Handprint Pilgrim Craft – Kids can turn their handprints into pilgrim collars when they make a boy or girl pilgrim this Thanksgiving. It’s an interactive way for kids to celebrate and learn about the First Thanksgiving, the feast that brought everyone together, and gratitude.

Acorn Craft For Kids – Autumn comes to life with this bendy acorn! Kids can make a silly acorn character with arms and legs they can twist, bend, and pose. It’s a fall project that keeps kids’ hands busy creating and having fun during imaginative play.

Free Printable Thanksgiving Worksheets

Make learning extra fun during November with these engaging Thanksgiving worksheets for kids. They’ll explore letter recognition, patterns, handwriting, and more through these three festive activities.

On the turkey handwriting worksheet they’ll trace the letter Tt, then find their way through the C is for Cornucopia letter maze, and finally complete the patterns filled with turkeys, pumpkins, and pilgrim hats.

These printables are an easy and fun way to keep kids busy, learning, and entertained in the classroom or at home this November.

collage image of 4 Free Printable Thanksgiving Worksheets

Add some Thanksgiving fun to learning with these adorable turkey worksheets! Kids will be able to practice writing, recognize the letter Tt, and even learn about the different parts of a turkey.

This free set includes activities that are perfect to incorporate into lessons at home or in the classroom. They make a great pre-Thanksgiving activity to keep little learners busy while building important early literacy and fine motor skills.

Fun Thanksgiving Color By Numbers

Kids will love connecting each dot to reveal festive pictures while practicing counting 1 to 20 using this set of turkey connect the dots.

This activity will hone fine motor skills as they guide their pencil along the dots to complete the illustrations of 2 different turkeys and a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving!

Once they’re done going dot to dot, grab the crayons and have them color them in for some beautiful seasonal art. Download and print for a fun Thanksgiving table activity or use them in the classroom for learning fun!

Collage of two completed paper pilgrim turkey crafts on a colorful background with scissors and glue sticks.

Keep learning festive and entertaining with a fun game of Thanksgiving food bingo printables. Kids will gain focus as they match turkeys, pies, and pumpkins while practicing shapes, colors, and numbers.

This interactive acting is great to use at home or in a classroom setting. It’s a playful way for little ones to explore different foods popular at Thanksgiving, build up skills, and enjoy a classic game with a holiday twist!

Did you make this activity with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s project featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

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