It’s probably been at least 35 years since I’ve made a paper handprint turkey. And to be honest, in the nine years that I’ve been a mom, I don’t think either of my kids have ever brought home a handprint turkey. I’ve never been disappointed by that, mostly because I don’t totally love them.

But this year I decided that it would be fun to make a handprint turkey, using the hands of all four of our hands…my husband Michael, me, Oliver, and Sommer. I love the idea that it was a combo of all of our hands, so I wanted to figure out how to show the blending together of us. Instead of using construction paper, I used colored vellum.

These family handprint turkeys looks so pretty hanging in the window so the light can pass through them. If you want to make your own, check out the instructions below!

Materials:

• Colored vellum
• Colored pencils
• Cereal box or brown grocery bag
• Scissors
• White china marker (or white colored pencil)
• Glue dots or glue stick
• Cardboard scraps

Make it:

1. Draw an “8” on the printed side of the cereal box or grocery bag, about 6 inches tall. Cut out. Make sure the figure-8 has a smaller top than bottom.
2. Draw eyes, beak, and waddle on the smaller part of the figure 8. Set aside.
3. Trace each of your family members hands on a different color vellum. If there is only one small person in your family, trace his or her hand two times. Cut each out.
4. Using china marker or white colored pencil, draw feather like details on the fingers.
5. Cut two or three 2-by-2-inch pieces of cardboard.
6. Stack the hands with the largest in the back, stack cardboard squares on the palms, and then the turkey body on top.
7. Attach all of the layers with glue dots or a glue stick. (If you want to hang your turkey, punch a small hole in the longest finger and thread string through.)

November 26, 2019| Animals, Baby, Early Elementary, Fall, Family Bonding, Grown-Up, Older Elementary, Paper, Preschool, Thanksgiving, Toddler, Tween to Teen