Thanksgiving is a great excuse to spend more quality time with the kids! And what better way to do that than by making this adorable turkey popsicle stick craft?

We love creating Thanksgiving craft activities, and this one is so fun! We’re giving you a free printable template, so you don’t have to worry about being artistic. Just download, print, and get crafting! And there are two different ways you can make this turkey’s feathers, so there’s an option everyone will love.

Gather around the table and make this cute craft stick turkey with your preschool, kindergarten, and elementary-aged kiddos. It’s such a simple Thanksgiving craft but so much fun! For even more ideas, check out our other turkey activities for kids.

Popsicle Stick Turkey

Supplies

Popsicle sticks
Permanent glue dots
Glue stick
Paint
Paintbrush
Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
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.

How To Make A Turkey With Popsicle Sticks

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!

hands holding popsicle stick turkey craft template

Line four popsicle sticks up to create a rectangle. Grab another popsicle stick and cut it into thirds with the scissors. Stretch a glue dot along the length of the three short popsicle sticks and use them to glue the 4 popsicle stick rectangle together. Glue one at the top, bottom, and middle.

Next, help your child to flip the 4 popsicle rectangle over and paint them all brown. If you’re using popsicle sticks for his feathers, paint seven more popsicle sticks in red, orange, yellow, and blue. Let all the pieces dry completely before moving on. If you’re using craft feathers, skip this step.

Click here to see why I recommend these craft supplies

Now, guide your child in assembling the turkey’s pilgrim hat by gluing the inner buckle to the outer buckle, then glue this to the hat band. Glue the hat band onto the hat and cut off the paper that hangs off the end.

Take the completed pilgrim hat and glue it to the top of the brown popsicle stick turkey body. Place the eyes just below the hat bottom and glue in place.

hands gluing eyes onto popsicle stick turkey craft

Glue the snood behind the turkey’s beak and then glue these pieces in the middle and slightly overlapping the eyes.

hands gluing beak onto popsicle stick turkey craft

Position the turkey’s feet on both sides of the bottom of the turkey body and glue them in place.

hands gluing feet onto popsicle stick turkey craft

Finally, encourage your child to create the turkey’s feathers by gluing the popsicle sticks (use the permanent glue dots) or taping the craft feathers in a fan along the back of the turkey’s head.

hands gluing feathers onto popsicle stick turkey craft

Aren’t these little turkeys such a cute and colorful Thanksgiving craft? This fun popsicle stick turkey craft is perfect for making during November.

Simple Paper Bag Pilgrim Craft

Thanksgiving Unit For Kids

Want to create an entire Thanksgiving unit study around this turkey craft? If so, keep reading below for some great ideas to get you started. We’ve got cute crafts and engaging activities for your kiddos to enjoy this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Books For Children

Reading to children helps your child blossom! It can help them become curious about learning new things, listen better, and develop a larger vocabulary!

For those reasons and more, we recommend starting each new theme with books.

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!

Kids’ Thanksgiving Crafts

Related: Thanksgiving Worksheets

Add in more simple crafts to make this Thanksgiving season bursting with fun!

Turkey Handprint Craft – This easy Thanksgiving craft is perfect for kids! No messy paint needed – just paper. This turkey handprint craft is so much fun, and it’s a great way to keep little ones busy while you’re preparing for the big feast.

These make adorable Thanksgiving decorations, or you can use them as place cards at the table. Either way, this fun turkey craft is sure to bring smiles all around.

Popsicle Stick Scarecrow Craft – This scarecrow craft is the perfect activity for kids to do leading up to Thanksgiving. They’ll have a blast painting and cutting the paper to create the scarecrow’s clothes and features. Don’t forget to download the free template to make this fun craft even easier!

Collage image of the Kids' Thanksgiving Crafts

Acorn Craft For Kids – These acorns are a great Thanksgiving craft for kids! They’re made from paper and pipe cleaners, and they’re so easy to make to with simple supplies from the craft store.

Paper Bag Corn Craft – These corn puppets for kids are so much fun to make! They’re great for encouraging pretend play, and they’re also really cute. On top of that, they’re quick to make and require a few simple craft supplies. These cute little corn cobs are perfect for playing with on Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Kids’ Activities

Looking for some fall activities to get your kids all excited and ready? These Thanksgiving do a dot printables will help them learn letter recognition, counting, visual discrimination – and more. Download these activity sheets today!

Try this Mayflower Handprint Craft

Gather the kids and play this easy roll a turkey printable game! It’s super easy to play and helps kids learn to take turns, count, and work on fine motor skills. It’s a fun activity for older and younger kids to enjoy together!

Collage image of the Thanksgiving Kids' Activities

Get ready for the best time of year with these fun Thanksgiving pattern block mats. This set includes 6 pictures perfect for getting kids excited about fall!

These Thanksgiving letter find printables are great for kids of all ages. Whether your children are just learning their letters or mastering spelling, these activity sheets will help them improve letter recognition and vocabulary! Plus, the cute Thanksgiving-themed illustrations are sure to make learning fun.

Toilet Paper Roll Pilgrim Craft

Did you make this project 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

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