Gobbling Turkey Craft ⋆ Little Miss Finicky

I’m going to share with you the very best Thanksgiving craft for kids that I have yet to come across. It is a turkey (hopefully that much is obvious) that gobbles!! We generally don’t keep kids’ ~~junk~~ crafts, but this guy has survived in our family for an entire year. And he is used regularly to sneak up behind people and scare them. Check it out…

I asked our third grader’s teacher if we could do it with the class, so we did yesterday. I’m a little nervous some of the parents may not be loving me as a result. This turkey is loud! And so cute.

So here’s what you need to make him:

A clear-ish plastic Solo cup
Brown tissue paper (gold will work)
A sponge
String
Mod Podge
A Paint Brush or sponge brush
Feathers (Michael’s is better than Amazon)
1-inch (25mm) google eyes
Tacky craft glue
Red and orange paper
Exacto knife
Large needle (optional)

The first part I did ahead of time for the kids (steps 1-5)…

Using an Exacto Knife or other sharp object, cut two small holes into the base of the cup.
Cut string so that it is about 3 times the height of the cup.
Thread the string up through one hole and down through the other hole (this is where the needle could come in handy if you have one that will work). Kids and their small hands are helpful here… especially preteen daughters.
Tie a knot inside the center of the cup, leaving as small of a tail as possible on one side.
Cut a sponge into thirds. Tie it to the long end of the string, pulling the string as hard as possible as you tie the knot around the sponge to pinch the sponge a bit. Another person’s finger is super helpful here. Trust me.
Now for the kids’ part… Have them tear up the tissue paper into small pieces, between 1-3 inches.
Paint Mod Podge on the cup and stick the torn paper on top, doing small sections at a time.
Continue until the entire cup is covered in tissue paper. Then paint a layer of Mod Podge over all the paper to seal it and make it glossy (and waterproof). You may need to help kids here. And hopefully you’re not using a tiny paint brush because that would take f o r e v e r.
Use Tacky craft glue to add the google eyes.
Cut a triangle out of orange paper for the nose and a gobble shape out of the red paper for the gobble. Use the craft glue to glue those onto the cup.
Choose feathers and use craft clue to tack them onto the back for the tail feathers.
Let the turkey dry.
Dampen the sponge (not too much… wring out any excess water). Squeeze the sponge around the top of the string and pull it down the string to make the turkey gobble.