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This Coffee Filter Turkey Craft is the perfect way to keep the kids entertained while you’re busy in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day! It’s an easy Thanksgiving craft that kids of all ages will have fun making!

A colorful turkey craft made from a coffee filter painted in sections of different colors, brown paper for the body, googly eyes, and a red wattle, set against a rustic wooden background with autumn leaves.

Coffee Filter Turkey

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there’s a lot to do. I’ve got to get the Thanksgiving tablescape ready, pick out the perfect Thanksgiving side dishes, and of course, figure out how to keep the kids entertained.

That’s why I always like to have a few kids’ crafts up my sleeve and this is one of my favorite Thanksgiving activities! We made it every year when I taught Kindergarten. It’s super easy to make and I’ve even included a printable template for tracing the turkey’s body.

The kids always have a blast spraying the filter and watching it turn into colorful feathers. It makes for a super fun Thanksgiving craft while you work on holiday prep in the kitchen.

Supplies Needed

Turkey Body Template
Round coffee filter – for the turkey feathers
Brown construction paper – for the body
Red construction paper – for the wattle
Orange construction paper – for the beak and feet
Googly Eyes
White glue (we used Elmers)
Washable markers
Scissors
Spray bottle

If you don’t have a spray bottle, you can flatten your filter and lay a wet paper towel over it instead. You may also want to place your filter on a craft mat or paper plate so that it doesn’t make a mess when you spray it with water.

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Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

Author Lisa O’Driscoll | Fun Money Mom

Additional Time 30

Total Time 30

This coffee filter turkey is the perfect way to keep the kids entertained (and out of the kitchen) on Thanksgiving.

Equipment

Washable markers (thick ones work best)
white craft glue
Spray bottle

Materials

▢ Turkey template
▢ Round coffee filter
▢ Construction paper – brown, red and orange
▢ Wiggly eyes

Instructions

Take your round coffee filter and flatten it. Color from the middle to the outside with magic markers.
Round coffee filter
Place something underneath the coffee filter and spray lightly with water (the marker colors will leak onto what's underneath so you don't want to do it directly on a table). A little goes a long way…don't overspray, or the colors will run together too much. Set aside to dry.
Print the turkey template.
Turkey template
Cut out one of the bodies and use it as a tracer to trace the shape onto brown construction paper (I included extra shapes in case kids just wanted to color it brown and skip the construction paper).
Construction paper – brown, red and orange
After cutting out the turkey body, cut a wattle from red construction paper and a beak from orange construction paper.
Construction paper – brown, red and orange
Glue the beak, wattle and eyes to your turkey body.
Wiggly eyes
Cut two triangles from orange construction paper, then cut two smaller triangles from the bottom to form the turkey claws. Glue to the body.
Finally, glue the body to the front of the coffee filter (make sure you've given it time to dry).

Notes

For the younger crafters, you can cut out all the pieces ahead of time and keep them in a snack bag until they’re ready to make their turkey.
If you don’t have a spray bottle, take a wet paper towel and lay it over the top of the coffee filter until the filter is completely wet and the colors start to blend.