Hands and Feet Turkey - Kid's Craft

I was getting out some fall decorations when I came across a cute craft we had done with the girls a few years back (they were so tiny then). All you need is some colorful construction paper, a few googly eyes, glue, a pencil and a couple of small people with tiny hands and feet.  This project would be fun to do before Thanksgiving (to add to your decorations) or you can do it the day of to keep the cousins and little ones out from underfoot while you create delicious masterpieces in the kitchen.  Note: If you do this craft the day of, wrangle older kids and teens to help with the supervising and cutting.

A cute turkey made from hands and feet

First, trace the foot of the child with their shoe on.  Do this on a dark brown piece of construction paper.  (Note: if the child is wiggly, then just trace the shoe by itself)

Next, trace your child's hand twice on a piece of construction paper.

My middle child was 2 1/2 here, now she's 6.. where has the time gone?

The original directions from Enchanted Learning say to trace two hands on three pieces of colorful construction paper - yellow, orange, and red (We also added a light brown/tan color), and cut them out individually.  You can do it this way but I found tracing once (easier on a moving child) then stacking the other colored construction paper behind and cutting through all the layers is much faster.  Just be sure to you hold the paper group tightly as you cut to get through all the layers. Good scissors will help here. By adding an extra color of light brown, we ended up with eight "feathers" instead of the regular six.

Now to build your turkey.  Take the two foot pieces and place them upside down heals together, and slightly offset.  (For play by play directions click here).  Next glue all the hand "feathers" spread out on on the back of the bird in a fan-like fashion.  We used the two light tan hands as feathers on the front and attached them that way, the rest were glued on the back.  All that's left after that is a few googly eyes and some small pieces to make a wattle, beak, and feet.

Rubber cement works a little quicker than Elmer's glue for this project

Be sure when you are finished to put the name and especially the age of the child on the back so when you dig it out of your decoration box years later you can remember how small their hands and feet were when they were, say three.  You can make some each year and see how much bigger your turkeys get too.  These would also make a nice gift for a grandparent or for whoever is hosting your holiday dinner.