Paint Smash Turkey Craft: An Easy Thanksgiving Craft for Kids
This paint smash turkey craft is the kind of Thanksgiving project we love most: a few squeezes of paint, one big squish, and a surprise when you open the paper. The kids get to smash the paint flat with their hands, and when they unfold it there is a bright fan of red, orange and yellow turkey feathers waiting for them!
It takes about ten minutes, there are no paintbrushes to wash, and every turkey turns out a little different. If your kids liked our bubble turkey craft, this one uses the same turkey outline with a brand new way to make the feathers.
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What You’ll Need
- White cardstock for the background
- Crayola washable paint in red, orange and yellow
- Brown and orange construction paper for the turkey body and beak
- Googly eyes
- Glue stick
- Scissors and a pencil
- A scrap of red paper for the wattle
- Our free printable turkey outline PDF (below)
Free Printable Turkey Outline
Print our turkey outline, cut it out, and use it as your pattern for the brown turkey body. One important note: the outline gets cut out and glued on after you smash the paint, not before. The paint feathers come first, then the turkey goes on top.
How to Make a Paint Smash Turkey Craft
- Fold the paper. Fold a piece of white cardstock in half, crease it well, then open it back up.
- Squeeze on the paint. Squeeze a small arc of yellow washable paint close to the crease. Add an arc of orange around the yellow, then an arc of red around the orange. A little goes a long way!
- Fold and smash. Fold the paper closed over the paint. Now the fun part: press down and smash the paint with your hands, pushing from the fold out toward the edges.
- Open it up. Slowly peel the paper open to reveal a bright fan of feathers. Set it aside to dry.
- Cut out the turkey. While the paint dries, print the turkey outline and cut it out. Trace it onto brown construction paper with a pencil, then cut out the brown turkey body.
- Glue the turkey on. Once the paint is smashed and dry, glue the brown turkey body onto the bottom center of the paint fan so the feathers spread out behind it.
- Add the face. Stick on two googly eyes, a small orange triangle beak and a red wattle.
Why We Love This Craft
The big reveal is the best part. Kids never know exactly what the feathers will look like until they open the paper, so there is no wrong way to do it. It is also great for little hands: squeezing, pressing and smashing are all things toddlers and preschoolers can do on their own, while older kids can handle the tracing and cutting.
Tips for the Best Paint Smash Feathers
- Keep the paint on one side of the fold, close to the crease, so it spreads up and out instead of squishing off the edges.
- Go light on the paint. Too much and it will ooze out the sides when you smash. (Trust us, haha)
- Layer the colors yellow, then orange, then red so they blend where they meet.
- Wait to cut out and glue on the turkey outline until after the paint is smashed. If the body goes on first it gets covered in paint.
- Let the paint dry before gluing so the glue stick actually sticks.
- Washable paint cleans up easily, but cover your table anyway.
We hope your family loves this paint smash turkey craft as much as ours did. If you are looking for more easy projects, try our bubble turkey craft or our leaf print painting next.
What did your turkey feathers look like when you opened the paper? Tell us in the comments!
