Handprint and Footprint Turkey Craft with Turkey Poem Printable

As a kid I always found Thanksgiving to be a boring holiday. There was nothing fun to do, and it just seemed like a really long day. I’ve tried to make it a bit more exciting for Nick over the years by creating some fun things to do on Thanksgiving like this handprint and footprint turkey.

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Handprint and Footprint Turkey with Poem Printable

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I have to admit that this particular craft had a dual purpose. Not only did it give Nick something to do, but it also helped him work on his fine motor skills.

Nick has no dominant hand, so activities such as cutting and gluing are really tough for him. I crated a lot of activities like this for Nick last year to help him work on building up strength and stamina in his hands. They have helped, but it’s still something that we’re working on.

I must say that when I told Nick about this craft last year he wanted nothing to do with it. I really wasn’t shocked by this since he doesn’t like to do crafts because they’re so tough for him. Who really wants to do something that’s hard?

Luckily he got into the spirit once we started, and he ended up really liking this craft. You can tell from the picture just how proud he was of his finished handprint and footprint turkey.

Funny enough what he especially enjoyed was the cutting. In fact he started cutting every piece of paper that was near him. Now that wasn’t what I was trying to get him to do, but he was using the scissors so I was more than happy to let him!

I was really happy with how the handprint and footprint turkey turned out. Besides the fact that the turkey is beyond cute I love how attaching it to the poem sheet just gives it a bit more. Now it isn’t just a kid craft, but a cute keepsake. This would be such an adorable thing to give to grandparents on Thanksgiving day. You know they’ll totally eat it up!

Now I want to give credit where credit is due, so I have to share that I did not come up with this complete idea on my own. I actually got the idea while subbing for a 3rd grade class. The handprint and footprint turkeys had been sitting on their desks along with the poem that I used. They had used the poem a bit differently though. They just had cut out the poem and glued it to their turkey. I preferred the idea of gluing the turkey to the poem. I think it gives it a more finished look, and it gives it a more card/gift feeling.

Supplies Needed for the Handprint and Footprint Turkey

Construction Paper (Brown for the body, white for the eyes, and then assorted colors for the feathers, feet, and face)
Pencil
Black Marker
Scissors
Glue Stick
Printable Poem

How to Make Handprint and Footprint Turkey

The first things you need to do is get the hand and foot tracings done. We traced Nick’s foot first and then his hands. You’ll want to trace one foot on brown paper to create the body of the turkey. Then I would trace both hands on 3 different colors of construction paper.

Once you have everything traced it is time to cut the footprint and all of the handprints out.

Once you’re done cutting it’s time to start designing. I think it works best to put the handprints behind the footprint and to move them around to create an arrangement you like before doing any gluing. When you’re happy with your arrangement then work on gluing each handprint down.

You’ll want to remind your child that not every part of the handprints need glue. kids just love putting glue on things, and that can quickly become a sticky mess.

With the body and feathers all put together it’s time to give your turkey a face and feet. Cut out two circles of white paper and glue them on for the eyes. Make large black dots in the middle of them to give the turkey eye balls.

You’ll finish his face up by adding his beak and giblet. For the beak I suggest cutting a corner of construction paper to get a triangle. For the giblet all you need to do is cut out a little squiggly shape. Once both pieces are cut out you can glue them down. You’ll want to make sure that you tuck the giblet under the beak.

At this point the only thing left to do is to add the turkey’s feet. I helped Nick free draw the feet and then we cut them out and glued the top of them to the back of the turkey.

Once your handprint and footprint turkey is all put together it’s time to add it to the poem page. How you position it to the poem sheet will truly depend on how large your turkey is. Nick is tiny, so his turkey didn’t end up being very large. In fact his turkey hardly hangs off of the poem page at all, but your child’s turkey might need to be positioned differently.

Now your child’s beyond adorable handprint and footprint turkey is done! You may find that you need to need to make multiple turkeys if the plan was to give it to someone. Nick loved his turkey so much that he wasn’t about to let it go!