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When it comes to holiday keepsakes, handprint art and craft ideas are one of the best ways to celebrate the season. These ideas make great gifts and decorations and you can keep them for years to remind yourself of how little your kiddos once were. Making a Thanksgiving Turkey Handprint craft, whether it’s painted or traced is destined for the refrigerator!
Whether you’re starting a new tradition or working through your fall bucket list making these keepsake handprints will be a fun activity and will help mark a moment in time with how small your child’s hand was! Try making a fall handprint wreath too for another handprint art piece.
Tips for making handprint art:
- If you want a more sparse handprint where you see more fingerprints, use a small paintbrush to coat a dry hand with paint and stamp right onto paper.
- If you want a more solid looking print, coat the hand and stamp a scrap piece of paper. Then, immediately add another coat of paint and stamp another piece and the second stamp will look more filled in.
- For easier paint removal, don’t let the paint fully dry before washing it off. Make as many handprints in that color as you want and then wash before it fully dries.
- If you are worried about paint on clothes or tables, try a smock or coated tablecloth for easy clean up!
Supplies for Your Handprint Craft
- Turkey Feather Template
- Acrylic paint (I used this brown from Colorations!)
- Construction Paper- I used brown, yellow, red, and orange
- Crayons or Markers
- Googley Eyes
- Scissors
Steps for Your Handprint Turkey
If you’re using paint, paint your child’s hand and stamp onto a piece of paper. I recommend keeping baby wipes or a wet paper towel nearby for this step! An alternative method is helping a child trace their hand onto a piece of brown construction paper.
Allow the paint to dry and cut out the shape of the hand. Have the child trace and cut out feathers (I used our turkey template) or color them in and then cut out.
Turn the cut out handprint around and glue on the feathers.
Add details like the googley eyes and beak using extra scrap paper!
Making this as a group activity or in a classroom?
If you’re making this in a classroom setting it can be a bit trickier to help kids all at once. Here are a few tips to try to streamline this handprint activity!
- Pre-cut the feathers.
- Trace instead of paint for the turkey body, or try using an ink pad!
- You can also use a paint stick as they dry quickly.
- Designate one area of the room for the turkey projects to finish drying.