Before the delicious feast this year, spend some quality time with the kids making a festive craft!
This turkey paper cup craft is a fun and easy-to-make project for kids. They can transform a humble paper cup into an adorable turkey with just a few common materials.
Explore even more turkey activities your kids will love. Learning can be fun, especially during this holiday season, so save your favorites.
Paper Cup Turkey

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It’s the perfect activity to add a festive touch to your holiday decorations! The best part is that you can make this craft using everyday household items or inexpensive supplies from your local dollar store.
Gather basic supplies, download and print the turkey template, and get the kiddos ready to have some fall fun. As they craft their turkeys, they’ll gain valuable skills like hand-eye coordination and scissor skills!
Supplies
- Paper cups
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Glue dots (optional)
- Turkey template (unlock the image to go to the download page)
Directions
Start by downloading the template and printing it out. Once the template is printed, gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this turkey to life!

First, guide your child to glue the eyes beneath both eyebrows.

Position the snood below the eyes and use glue to attach it.

Take the beak and glue it below the eyes, covering the snood.

Next, help your child position the cup with the rim facing down, then glue the belly to the bottom.

Glue the completed turkey head to the top of the paper cup.

Finally, encourage your child to attach the feathers to the back of the paper cup. We use a glue dot for this part because it’s strong and doesn’t require drying time.

Be sure to check out our favorite Thanksgiving crafts for even more ideas for your kiddos!

Preschool Thanksgiving Ideas
You’re in the right place for a cornucopia of ideas to use this Thanksgiving with your preschoolers. We’ve gathered a collection of crafts and educational activities to keep your little ones engaged and excited during the holiday season.
These activities are designed to spark curiosity and learning while having fun. Be sure to note the ones your kids will love to do this November!

Thanksgiving Children’s Books
Below are some of the top 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!

Construction Paper Thanksgiving Crafts
Turkey Handprint Card Craft—Kids can add a personal touch to Thanksgiving celebrations with this adorable handprint card. There’s no messy paint involved, and it only takes a handful of common supplies to make this turkey card. Kids will be proud to give it to someone they’re thankful for.
Related: Thanksgiving Pattern Block Mats
Mayflower Handprint Craft – Keep those little hands busy with this craft, which can also serve as a little history lesson. Kids will be ready to set sail on the Mayflower once they complete this cute craft using their handprints.

Turkey Craftivity – This fun craftivity is both creative and thoughtful! This project is the perfect blend of crafting and a writing activity. Kids will express gratitude, fine-tune their motor skills, and enhance their handwriting and scissor skills while making a special keepsake.
Pumpkin Craft for Preschoolers – This craft project is fun, so cute, and a fantastic way for kids to develop valuable skills while crafting. Use the free printable template we’ve included to make it super simple to recreate.
Printable Thanksgiving Activities
Are your kids ready for a fun challenge? They’ll love to play I Spy with these Thanksgiving I Spy printables! These sheets will get them engaged by discovering hidden Thanksgiving themed illustrations.
Try this Pilgrim Photo Craft
These printables are perfect for keeping little ones entertained while they eagerly await their Thanksgiving feast or for holiday fun anytime during the season. Make it a friendly competition to spot all the Thanksgiving treasures first or do them solo during quiet time.

Looking for a fun and educational activity for kids this fall? Our Thanksgiving do-a-dot printables will provide hours of engaging learning and entertainment. They’re ideal for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten-aged children.
This 27-page set includes a wide variety of activities, from dot coloring pages to letter and number exercises. Download now to spark creativity and skill development while celebrating the season!

Your little artists will love flexing their feathers with this fun turkey art project! It’s a fun activity that combines an art project and craft. Kids will break out their watercolors and paint brushes to paint the different parts of this project, then craft the turkey onto the background they painted.
Your kiddos will love to show off their artistic abilities and gobble up lots of fun when they create their masterpieces.

Kids can explore the alphabet with this fun pumpkin pie letter search activity. This Thanksgiving themed activity will have kids searching their pumpkin pie for the letter matching their turkey cards. They’ll have a blast while honing skills in following multi-step directions and visual discrimination abilities.
This engaging activity introduces kids to letter shapes, names, and matching capital and lowercase letters. Learning has never been this fun, so make the most of this hands-on resource to foster essential developmental skills!
Share With Us
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!
More Thanksgiving Ideas

Turkey Paper Cup Craft For Kids
This turkey paper cup craft is a fun and easy to make project that kids will absolutely love.
Materials
- Paper cups
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Glue dots (optional)
- Turkey template
Instructions
- Download the turkey template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.
- Start by gluing the eyes beneath both of the eyebrows.
- Position the snood below the eyes and use glue to attach it.
- Take the beak and glue it below the eyes covering the snood.
- Next, position the cup with the rim facing down, then glue the belly to the bottom of the cup.
- Glue the completed turkey head to the top of the paper cup.
- Finish up by attaching the feathers to the back of the paper cup. We use glue dots here because they're strong and don't require any drying time.
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Sam is the crafter and founder of Simple Everyday Mom. She has been featured in Oprah Mag, Good Housekeeping, The Spruce Crafts, Country Living, The Bump and more. Read more.
Tiffany
Sunday 17th of November 2024
😁
Vanessa Castillo
Wednesday 15th of November 2023
So cute
Sam
Wednesday 15th of November 2023
Thanks Vanessa!
Jan
Tuesday 14th of November 2023
Cute!
Sam
Wednesday 15th of November 2023
Thanks!