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Craft Corner: Leaf Print Turkey

🦃 Cool Craft for Thanksgiving (or any Autumn day!)

By Melinda Lodge Willis, publisher of Macaroni Kid Salem November 16, 2011

This turkey craft will keep the little ones occupied on Thanksgiving Day and is simple enough for toddlers to do with a little guidance from a grown-up.

First, take a walk around your neighborhood and collect some leaves that are still whole. Bring them inside and make some leafprints by placing a piece of paper on top of a leaf and coloring over the leaf to that the print comes through the paper.

Tip: Placing the leaf with the vein side up will give you a better print. Peeling the paper off a crayon and coloring with the side of it will also usually yield better results.

Once you have 6-8 leaf prints of varying sizes and colors, you are ready to make your turkey.

  1. Cut out your leaf prints
  2. Glue leaf prints to a colorful circle made from foam, construction paper, or other material (a plastic tumbler from your kitchen cabinet should be just the right size)
  3. Glue a smaller circle in the middle of the larger one to make a turkey face
  4. Add eyes and feet (googly eyes, Cheerios, chocolate chips, or pom-poms all work well)
  5. Draw a smile, or a beak and wattle if you prefer