Make a Tissue Paper Turkey

Can you guess how many turkeys Americans cook and eat during the Thanksgiving holiday? More than 45 million! In preparation for Turkey Day, create an adorable, non-edible turkey decked out with colorful bursts of tissue paper that pop off the page. This fluffy gobbler is a three-dimensional twist on the classic handprint turkey, and looks great gracing a wall, refrigerator, or even the dinner table (just kidding).

What You Need:

• Paper
• Pencil with eraser tip
• Glue stick
• Tissue paper in various colors, cut into 2" squares

What You Do:

1. Place your child’s hand flat in the center of the paper. Trace completely around your child’s hand to form the body and feathers of the turkey.
2. Invite her to choose a color to start with. Place the eraser end of the pencil in the center of a tissue paper square and scrunch the tissue paper up around it.
3. Keeping the tissue paper on the pencil, rub a little glue onto it and attach it to the turkey's body, using the pencil to press the tissue paper down onto the paper. Lift the pencil away.
4. Repeat this process until the turkey is fully covered with tissue paper “feathers.”
5. Once the glue has dried, encourage your child to give her turkey more personality by drawing other body parts such as eyes, legs, and a beak.

Did You Know?

The fleshy part that hangs under a turkey’s chin is called a wattle. Use a red pen or red tissue paper to put a wattle on your tissue paper turkey!