Fun Paper Bag Turkey Craft (Thanksgiving Crafts)
Turkey crafts are one of the easiest Christmas activities to do with your kids. Your kids will feel like they did a lot of work, but paper bag turkeys don’t require any glue or other craft supplies that might scream “Christmas tree!” or “Happy New Year!” so you can keep this on your list all year long. Kids love crafting and thanksgiving paper bag turkey craft are the perfect activity for them to enjoy at home during the holiday season.
What Are Paper Bag Turkey Crafts?
Paper bag turkey crafts are made by folding paper bags in half lengthwise, then folding them in half again and sealing the edges with glue. The result is a turkey that appears to be made of paper. Paper bag turkey crafts for toddlers can be as simple as a plain-looking turkey or they can be elaborate with foam crowns or other decorations.
History
The paper bag turkey craft was an invention of Jewish children in the 1930s, during the Depression year of 1931. They made their turkeys out of paper bags and used them as props for plays to present to family members. The kids made these turkeys because there was not enough money to buy presents—they had to make them instead.
Fun Facts
These kids named their turkeys “Moishe” after a beloved teacher who had died that year; they also named one “Purple Feathers” after a popular song about the year’s most fashionable accessory. (“Purple Feathers” was a word that kids used to describe pom-poms in the early 20th century. It became popular in children’s songs like this one from 1909: “Purple feathers down her back, and she sings a song; a song she don’t know.”) (For more on the history of pom-poms, check out Mary Thomas’s Pom-Pon: The History of the Little Balloon ) You can see these paper bag turkeys—along with many other amazing brown bag turkey crafts—in Melissa Loeffler’s book Broken Bushels: Jewish Holidays , available from Amazon .
What You Will Need To Make A Paper Bag Turkey:
White paper bags, yellow or red construction or wrapping paper, glue, construction or wrapping tape, optional decorative items like pom-poms and/or feathers.
How To Make A Paper Bag Turkey:
Fold the white paper bag in half lengthwise. Fold this sheet of paper down the middle again. This gives you 4 flaps to work with. Apply glue along the edges of all 4 flaps except for one of them. Take one flap and fold it over onto itself so that it overlaps itself by an inch or two; then apply tape along this edge so that it sticks together well.
Repeat on the other 3 flaps, so that you have one flap sticking onto itself with tape, and two flaps sticking onto themselves with glue. On the single glued flap, fold it down to make a triangle that sticks out of the bottom of the turkey. The other two glued flaps will be folded into the body of your turkey, for his legs. You can decorate your turkey with feathers and pom-poms if you wish.
You’re done! This simple craft is a fun family activity to do any time during the holiday season; just stick it on your fridge door or on a bulletin board.
There are so many things you can do with a paper bag turkey! Here are a few suggestions:
1. Use it as a prop for a play that your family is acting out; for example: “The Piggly Wiggly Store” or “Who’s in the Turkey?”
2. Hold it in your hand and act like a talking turkey for dramatic effect; say, “I was an ugly baby,” while you lean against something funny looking—like the end of your couch or a chair leg—and make funny sounds that make you sound like an uncouth bird.
3. It can be presented in the role of mythical fowl. Create a Thanksgiving Chinese dinner, with a handprint turkey for the chicken dish. Then you can act out the story of the Chinese Thanksgiving dinner.
4. You can make a lovable turkey puppet. The kids can make their own puppets out of construction paper and string or yarn that have the turkey’s head attached to them. Then they can stick the puppet in a sock or handkerchief and act out favorite Thanksgiving stories.
5. You can also have the turkey sit on a plate with food on it, as much as you might want to put him on your Thanksgiving centerpiece!
6. You can use it to reenact various scenes from your favorite A Christmas Story film, like the scene where Ralphie tries to stuff a marshmallow up his nose or attempts to steal Miss Shields’ Christmas tree ornament by sticking his tongue out when her back is turned.
7. You can make a paper bag turkey mascot for your school’s athletic team; it will look adorable in the gym or on a sports uniform.
8. You can have a little photo booth with your paper bag turkey crafts kids and their art, by having them pose in various funny ways while holding up their paper bag turkey, and then you can take the pictures on your phone.
9. Use it as an indoor Halloween prop!
10. Of course, you can have a paper bag clown.
Easy Paper Bag Turkeys
Dough Surprise
A dough surprise is a fun paper bag turkey craft for kids that involves unpacking a bag full of surprises. You can use this idea in order to teach your kids about the traditional Thanksgiving meal, all while having fun with the dough in your kitchen. There are numerous homemade recipes for dough that you can try out, such as adding Kool-Aid to the mixture! Before you start, ask your kids to think about what they would like to put into their turkey; whether it is raisins or sprinkles or anything else. Then assign them an area of the turkey’s body that they would like to decorate with their chosen item.
What you Will Need:
1. A paper bag turkey
2. Uncooked playdough
3. Rubbing alcohol
4. Food coloring (optional)
5. A variety of fun items to put into the turkey: raisins, beans, silverware, etc…
How to make a paper bag turkey dough surprise project:
1. Pour a cup of playdough into a paper bag that you have cut open along the bottom seam and replaced with packing tape or glue to reinforce it for tearing; you can also use the top of a plain brown paper bag without any seams on it in order to roll out your play dough evenly while working with the kids in your kitchen.
2. Lay out the playdough on a clean tabletop such as your kitchen table. Try to work with one child at a time, so that they don’t get impatient or confused when you need to stop working with them.
3. Show the class how to tear the paper bag along the bottom seam and how to open it without ripping it apart; you can use something like a long stick or craft knife for this purpose.
4. Ask them what they think is inside the bag, then have children guess and share their ideas with one another.
5. Give them a chance to rip the bag open. When it is wide open, they can start to fill it with any kinds of fun objects that they want to include in their turkey.
6. When they are finished filling the bag, have them pinch the top of the bag closed and then give the whole contents of their bag to your little helper who has been assigned to put the items into your turkey body section (i.e., have him/her push and pull things through the opening in his turkey’s body).
7. Encourage your child to show you how they put the items into the turkey.
8. Once they have completed this, you can help them add a few drops of rubbing alcohol that will facilitate the drying process and also give them a chance to talk about whether or not it is a good idea to drink rubbing alcohol.
9. If your kids are old enough, give them an opportunity to color their turkey as well!
10. Have your little helper set his/her bag aside and then use his/her hands in order to roll out some more dough for all of the children to use once he/she is finished helping with place settings!
The Turkey Pout
The Turkey Pout is a project that allows your class to work together on making a paper bag turkey, all while getting them excited for the holidays! You can create this paper bag craft with your kids in order to get them thinking about what they are thankful for this year. This craft may take a bit of time, but it will be an excellent way to get your little ones excited for Thanksgiving.
What You Will Need:
1. A paper bag turkey (from the “Paper Bag Turkey Ideas to Try With Kids” above)
2. A brown paper bag, without any seams
3. Construction glue or Elmer’s Glue
4. A white paper bag, without any seams, in order to roll out the play dough evenly as you work with your kids in your kitchen
5. Play dough
How to make a paper bag turkey pout:
1. Ask your little ones what they are thankful for this year and why; they can talk about whatever is on their minds at that time and share ideas with one another.
2. As they share, ask them to write down their ideas for the list on small scraps of paper and then ask them to put these into a big bowl in your center; have bowls ready beforehand for each idea that the kids come up with.
3. You can help them think about other things that you could add to this list, such as family or friends or anything else that comes to mind!
4. Next, show your class how to unroll some play dough onto a paper bag that has no seams for each child in order to roll out his/her own ball of playdough. Have an adult or older child working with you to help with the opening and closing of each ball of playdough (i.e. pinching the bag closed while the child leaves to find an object to put into their turkey’s body).
5. Once they have made their dough balls, have them place their turkey body on top of a table, then take turns putting the items that they selected from the bowl into the paper bag turkey body. Have them push and pull things through the opening in his or her turkey using fingers or other objects; ask them how they feel about each object’s placement in his/her feathers and body area.
6. When all of the children have finished, set aside their paper bag turkey and mix up some glue or construction glue by mixing a bit of it with water in a small bowl; use this in order to put small dots of glue on top of each turkey’s head (you can also add it to the inside of the turkey’s body, if you would like).
7. Ask your kids to tell you which seat they would prefer for their turkey, followed by telling them that they can choose a thread from the craft store in order to sew their chosen seat onto their turkey.
8. They can then tell you a phrase that they would like to sew onto their turkey’s body.
9. Then, take turns gluing their thread and writing onto your paper bag turkeys.
10. They can then help in mashing up some potatoes with cream cheese and spices in order to create the turkey stuffing that will go inside of the body. Have them spread it inside of the turkey’s body, but not all the way up to where it meets their chosen seat!
11. After this, they can use a tiny bit of brown paint to add some eyes and a beak to their turkey!
Turkey Place Setting
The Turkey Place Setting is a project that you can do with your kids in order to help educate them about the Thanksgiving traditions that we all take part in. You can create this paper bag craft with your kids in order to get them thinking about what they are thankful for this year. This craft may take a bit of time, but it will be an excellent way to get your little ones excited for Thanksgiving.
This craft is very similar to the thanksgiving turkey paper bag Pout, however, you can use one large paper bag and insert play dough into the bag body section of the turkey (i.e., instead of using small pieces of play dough).
What You Will Need:
1. A large brown paper bag without any seams
2. Playdough
3. Construction glue or Elmer’s Glue
4. A white paper bag in which you will place all of the play dough that you have rolled out (without any seams), in order to roll out the play dough evenly as you work with your kids in your kitchen
5. An adult helper for this project
How to make a paper bag turkey place setting:
1. Ask your little ones what they are thankful for this year and why; they can talk about whatever is on their minds at that time and share ideas with one another.
2. As they share, ask them to write down their ideas for the list on small scraps of paper and then ask them to put these into a big bowl in your center; have bowls ready beforehand for each idea that the kids come up with.
3. You can help them think about other things that you could add to this list, such as family or friends or anything else that comes to mind!
4. Next, show your class how to unroll some playdough to make a turkey out of a paper bag in order to roll out his/her own ball of playdough. Have an adult or older child working with you to help with the opening and closing of each ball of playdough (i.e. pinching the bag closed while the child leaves to find an object to put into their turkey’s body).
5. Once they have made their dough balls, have them place their turkey body on top of a table and then take turns putting the items that they selected from the bowl into the paper bag turkey body. You can help them spread the play dough evenly inside and all around his or her body area.
6. When all of your kids are ready, you may want to fold over a piece of paper in order to use as a guide for how tightly you will wrap around each little turkey.
7. After this, have them glue some “nose” pieces onto their own turkeys (i.e. push pins, wiggly eyes, buttons, etc.). If you have some wiggly eyes available, let them use their imagination to tell you how their turkey sees the world!
8. When they are done with this step, they can then use a tiny bit of brown paint to add some eyes and a beak to their turkeys!
Turkey Sandwiches
The Turkey Sandwich is another fun paper bag craft that you can do with your students in order to help educate them about Thanksgiving customs. This craft will take some time, but will be excellent for getting your kids excited about Thanksgiving. This craft is also very similar to the Paper Bag Turkey Pout, however, instead of using small pieces of play dough in your turkey’s body area, you can use ham or sandwich meat.
Skill level: appropriate for ages 2+
What You Will Need:
1. Brown paper food bags – one for each child
2. Paintbrushes and paint (make sure that these are non-toxic)
3. Construction paper in colors of your choosing (enough to cover the sandwich bag)
4. Scraps of white paper (optional)
5. Glue for children to spread on their sandwich bags and other construction paper scraps
How to make a turkey sandwich:
1. Ask your children which sandwiches they are looking forward to for Thanksgiving; you can also ask them which sandwiches they are not as excited about.
2. Once the children have chosen their sandwich, allow them to sit and explore what choice is available in order to help them decide which one they would like to choose.
3. Next, instruct your students on which colors of construction paper or paper bags you will be using and how many of each color that you will need in order for each child to create their own turkey sandwich (this will depend on the size of the turkey sandwich that each child created).
4. Let the children spread glue on their turkey sandwich and then place their turkey in the middle of their construction paper scraps.
5. Once they have made their sandwich, let them glue a smile onto the face of the turkey for happiness; you can also allow them to use stickers on his face as well.
6. Then, allow your children to decorate their Turkey Sandwiches with food coloring markers or crayons!
By using a variety of paper bag crafts, such as these Turkey Place Setting and Turkey Sandwiches, you will be able to help your students learn about the ideas behind Thanksgiving traditions and the importance of giving thanks for all we have. It is also an excellent way for students to learn more about each other and begin to build better relationships within their classroom.
