My toddler daughter and I love making easy preschool crafts such as this for Thanksgiving and fall! Inspire your child’s creativity while simultaneously teaching them how to spell their name. Check out this easy-to-make feather name turkey. This is the best fine motor activity and November craft for children in preschool, kindergarten, homeschool, and daycare! If you have older kids, let them guide the smaller children and help them as you take care of more important things!
Toddlers love all holidays and enjoy this craft as it’s fun as they get to learn about turkeys and reinforces how to spell their name. It’s such an easy and cheap dollar store craft that we’ve been making every November since my now five-year-old daughter was two! Nothing says “gobble gobble” like a turkey art craft like this! Use this opportunity to improve language skills by talking about turkeys, plumage, how to spell their name, and the Thanksgiving holiday.
I love easy and cheap crafts like these! To make this turkey craft, all you need is a paper plate, crayons (we used brown, orange, red, and yellow), black marker, construction paper (we picked orange, red, and yellow paper), a pair of scissors, googly eyeballs, and school glue or a hot glue gun and hot glue.
Why are motor skills so important?
Motor skills are needed to perform many tasks in life. Fine motor skills involve tying your shoes, drawing, and writing. Gross motor skills involve walking, running, climbing, jumping, and engage your larger limbs and trunk.
Fine motor skills include smaller muscle groups such as the hand and wrist. Gross motor skills involve larger muscles needed for movement in the legs, arms, and torso. This is the perfect fine motor activity craft as it engages the small muscles in your kid’s hands and fingers to create this turkey craft.
If you like fall preschool fine motor crafts, then you’ll love my easy Turkey Headshot craft, Fall Leaf Painting Craft, Fall Potato Stamp Leaf Tree Craft, and Easy DIY Thanksgiving Sensory Bin!
My Easy DIY Thanksgiving Sensory Bin is perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and older kids at daycare, preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, and homeschool!
Benefits of Fine Motor Activities
Fine motor skills are imperative in life and toddlers should be constantly practicing fine motor skills daily to prepare them to do things later in life such as buttoning a button, tying their shoes, and writing their name. Fine motor skills enable children to develop their independence as they learn how to eat, speak, create, and are able to do many more things as these skills improve.
According to Early Impact Learning’s article, hand-eye coordination is another fine motor skill that develops from when we are babies into adulthood. When kids interact with fine motor activities, they are continually improving the link between what their eyes see and what they are trying to hold or touch.
One of the biggest reasons fine motor skills are so important is that they allow us to be independent. When kids have good fine motor skills, their self esteem improves as they are proud after building a tall tower of blocks by using the small muscles in their hands and fingers to make beautiful masterpieces they can take pride in.
Cutting, gluing, painting, sewing, threading, and weaving are fantastic ways for kids to use their fine motor skills. Many art and craft activities involve fine motor skills which allows toddlers and kids to express their creativity as they practice doing things independently.
Items needed to make a Feather Name Turkey
Paper plate. You’ll need a paper plate.
Crayons. We used orange, red, brown, and yellow crayons.
Black marker. A black Sharpie marker or other similar black marker works best.
Construction paper. Grab some orange, red, and yellow construction paper.
Scissors. If kids are cutting, make sure to use kid friendly toddler scissors.
Googly eyes. Use craft googly eyes for the turkey’s face.
Glue. Use school glue or hot glue to make this.
How to make the best Feather Name Turkey
STEP 1: Using the brown, orange, red, and yellow crayons, draw all over the paper plate.
STEP 2: With scissors, cut the feathers, nose, tongue, and two feet out of orange and red construction paper.
STEP 3: Use a black marker to write the letters of the name on each feather. Also, write the year on the bottom center.
STEP 4: A hot glue gun or regular white school glue can be used to glue the feathers to the back of the paper plate. Glue the googly eyes, nose, tongue, and feet to the paper plate.
STEP 5: If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
Recommended items to make this craft
- Crayons. We love these.
- Black marker. We like this black Sharpie marker best.
- Construction paper. This is the best construction paper!
More kid’s crafts and activities you’ll love!
Turkey Headshot – Easy Toddler Thanksgiving Craft
Two-Ingredient Salt Dough Handprint and Footprint
Thanksgiving Popcorn Sensory Bin
Easy DIY Thanksgiving Sensory Bin
Toilet Paper Roll Upcycled Crafts
How to Dye Rainbow Beans for Sensory Bins
Baking Soda, Vinegar & Food Coloring Experiment
Fall Potato Stamp Leaf Tree – Easy Toddler Craft
Creepy Halloween Spaghetti Sensory Bin
Popcorn Sensory Bin (Halloween)
Vampire Paper Plate Craft – Easy Toddler Halloween Craft
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make this Feather Name Turkey craft, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this craft a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this craft and always do my best to respond to all comments.
If you do make this craft, don’t forget to tag #elisemccollister on Instagram! It makes me so happy to see your craft photos!
Feather Name Turkey
Equipment
Materials
- paper plate
- crayons orange, red, brown, and yellow
- black marker such as a Sharpie
- construction paper orange, red, and yellow
- googly eyes
- school glue or hot glue
Instructions
- Using the brown, orange, red, and yellow crayons, draw all over the paper plate.
- With scissors, cut the feathers, nose, tongue, and two feet out of orange and red construction paper.
- Use a black marker to write the letters of the name on each feather. Also, write the year on the bottom center.
- A hot glue gun or regular white school glue can be used to glue the feathers to the back of the paper plate. Glue the eyes, nose, tongue, and feet to the paper plate.
- If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
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