5 Thanksgiving Popsicle Stick Turkey Crafts For Kids!

Who would have thought that popsicle sticks and turkeys go together like mashed potatoes and turkey! I’ve compiled my favorite Popsicle Stick Turkey Crafts to celebrate turkey day with Turkey crafts for kids. These Thanksgiving crafts for kids will keep the kids busy and produce unique homemade turkeys for the Thanksgiving turkey decor theme of the day.

Only a few materials are needed for each Popsicle Stick Turkey Craft and more than likely the materials are already in your craft stash. A quick trip to the dollar store will yield the additional materials plus a quick trip to the yard for acorns!

My favorite Popsicle Stick Crafts For Kids are easy to create for Turkey Day!

1. Popsicle Stick Turkey

So easy, so fun and so quick to make!

Materials

Popsicle and or Craft sticks: Jumbo or regular size

Color Foam Paper, card stock or construction paper in multiple colors

Googly Eyes

Magnet (optional)

How To Make Popsicle Stick Turkey

Directions

For the jumbo Popsicle Stick turkey choose a colored Jumbo craft stick of your choice.
For the regular size popsicle or craft sticks, glue two together for the turkey base.
Free hand cut out the turkey feathers from foam craft paper. Construction paper or cardboard works also, but the foam paper adds a nice stiffness and stability to the turkey.
Cut a small triangle for the beak.
Cut a small red gobble. I like to think of the gobble as a wavy snake when cutting out the gobble.
Position the two google eyes toward the top of the craft stick.
Eyeballing the position, glue the gobble below the eyes.
Glue the yellow beak on top of the red gobble.
Glue each feather on the back of the craft stick. Overlap the foam paper feathers on the back of the craft stick.
Position the feather first before gluing as the feather may need to be trimmed so the feathers are sprayed behind the turkey.

2. Popsicle Stick Turkey Magnet

Optional but fun!

Turn the Popsicle stick turkey into a kitchen magnet.

Glue a small magnet on to the back of the turkey.

Voila! Cute little Popsicle Stick Turkey magnets for the refrigerator.

I am so glad I purchased these small disc magnets last year. It is amazing the number of uses I have found for them whether it be for crafting or household use.

Googly Eye Secret Weapon

Crafting with googly eyes can be frustrating because the eyes are so small to work with and position properly. I use angle slanted tweezers for crafts which require working with small pieces. It is so much easier!

The forcep like ends are wider than traditional tweezers and allow grasping small materials much easier than pointed tips. Many crafters buy a set of craft tools to help with small materials when crafting. This is the tool I use all the time for crafts large and small.

Self adhesive googly eyes can be tricky as well to glue on crafts. What? They are supposed to be self stick! But it really depends upon the material the googly eyes are being adhered to. It can take some trial and error and nothing more irritating to complete a craft only to wake up in the morning missing an eyeball! I share a few of my Googly eye tips and tricks to make crafting a bit easier from my trial and error with the googly eyes.

3. Walnut Turkey Craft With Nametag

Materials

Materials (The Tutorial and material list is here)

Add a fabric flower from the dollar store – package of three flowers for $1.00 !

Directions

Make the turkey as described in the tutorial for the Walnut Turkey Craft.
Instead of attaching mini popsicle sticks as feathers — use a fabric flower!
I found fabric flowers at the dollar store 3 in a package for $1.00.
Detach one flower and gather the flower petals to one side.
Glue to the walnut shell turkey as the turkey plume.
As indicated in the directions above, write the name of the guest on the end of a popsicle stick.
Attach the turkey to the opposite end on the popsicle stick.
Let Dry.

4. Mini Popsicle Stick Turkey

Materials

Whole Walnut

Acorn

5 multi colored mini popsicle sticks

Glue

Red and yellow scrap felt

2 small googly eyes

Directions

This Mini Popsicle Stick turkey craft is made from the mini crafts sticks or can even be made from ice cream taster spoons, those small spoons which come with ice cream cups.

Tutorial is available here to make the walnut turkey with the acorn head. Kids can help with this craft by gathering acorns for the turkeys and positioning the turkey feathers.

The turkey is now ready for its’ mini popsicle stick feathers.

Attach each mini popsicle stick/feather to the rear of the walnut shell to make the turkey plume.

Let dry.

If your turkey is slightly tilted a small piece of double sided tape can help the turkey stand tall!

5. Popsicle Stick Duct Tape Turkey

Materials

7 Plain popsicle sticks or craft sticks

Patterned Duct Tape

Googly Eyes

Glue

Yellow and red felt scraps

Directions

Sticky alert! The biggest obstacle in this craft is the sticky duct tape which can be well, very sticky, to maneuver. However you have an entire roll so a few oops along the way is no big deal.

Cut a 5 inch strip of duct tape.
Cut the 5 inch strip in half length wise.
Wrap the duct tape around each stick.

Make the body of the turkey by sliding one popsicle stick half way up the second popsicle stick and glue together. The smaller ice cream paddle popsicle sticks can also be used.
No pattern is needed for the turkey gobble and nose. It is actually easier to eyeball the size than use a template.
Cut a small triangle from the yellow felt.
Cut a turkey gobble from the red felt. It is easier just to cut a small wavy strip from the red felt then size to the popsicle stick turkey face.
Glue the googly eyes to the popsicle body.
About 1/8″ down from the middle of the eyes glue the red turkey gobble.
Line up the straight edge of the triangle to the top of the turkey gobble and glue.

Feathers!

The popsicle sticks need to be cut to make the duct tape feathers. Adult supervision is necessary for the part of the craft with younger children or if an exacto blade is used. The popsicle sticks are easily cut with an exacto blade, but I used sharp craft scissors for safety.
The size of the feathers is up to you. I cut a few sticks in half first and then laid the feathers out behind the turkey body to see what sticks needed to be adjusted to size.
Glue the feathers in a V shape behind the body so the feathers are spread apart to make a plume.
Let the glue dry and voila! A Popsicle Stick Duct Tape Turkey.
As with any new craft, the first turkey is the toughest. Once you have a feel for the duct tape the craft will move along much quicker.

I hope you have enjoyed these Popsicle Stick Turkey Crafts For Kids ideas plus the bonus walnut shell turkey with flowers. Tour the craft section of the dollar store with feathers in mind and it is amazing what might visualize to use as crafty feathers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

7 Thanksgiving Crafts

Decorate for Fall and Thanksgiving with 7 easy Thanksgiving crafts! The turkey and Thanksgiving crafts are dollar store friendly and will brighten up the decorations with a homemade touch and the kids will love participating!