I am not a turkey! I am a dinosaur, rawr! Get our free disguise a turkey as a dinosaur printable template and make sure this turkey never gets discovered.
With this fun printout, your kids will not only have fun making it but will also love displaying it; the disguise can be put on and off the turkey in seconds. One moment, a turkey; the next, a cool-looking dinosaur.
We’re on a turkey craze, sharing all kinds of turkey in disguise projects; these are without a doubt some of the most fun Thanksgiving activities you can do with your kids. Not only do kids get to make a cool craft, but they can also write a creative essay to go along with it. After all, it’s not enough to just put on a disguise, you need to know if and why it will work.
The holidays are an excellent time for arts and crafts. One popular project around Thanksgiving is disguising a turkey to look like another animal or character. A creative way to do this is turning your turkey into a ferocious dinosaur!
In this 1899 word guide we will cover everything you need to know about making a dinosaur turkey disguise. You’ll learn the steps get printable templates, and find tips to make it fun for kids of all ages. Let’s get started!
Why Disguise a Turkey as a Dinosaur?
Disguising a turkey is a hands-on craft that lets kids exercise their creativity. As they color, cut and assemble the disguise they can express their artistry and imagination. The project also allows for practicing fine motor skills.
Plus, it’s just plain fun to transform an iconic Thanksgiving bird into a totally different creature. Dinosaurs are fascinating to kids, so turning their turkey into a T-Rex or Triceratops adds an element of adventure. The turkey can flip back and forth between dinosaur and bird, providing interactive play.
Doing turkey disguises as a classroom or family activity builds togetherness and memories. And the completed craft makes a festive Thanksgiving decoration to display.
How to Make the Dinosaur Turkey Disguise
To create a dinosaur disguise for your turkey, you will need:
- Turkey template printouts
- Construction paper or foam sheets in green, brown, red, orange
- Glue, tape or staples
- Markers, crayons, or paint
- Scissors
Follow these steps:
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Print out the turkey template outlines. This includes a plain turkey body, the dinosaur disguise pieces, and a half sheet with a hidden turkey.
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Have kids color the main turkey body with traditional Thanksgiving colors – browns, oranges, yellows, and reds.
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Color the dinosaur disguise pieces in green, brown, and other dinosaur colors.
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Cut out all pieces – the turkey body and all disguise shapes.
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Arrange and attach the disguise pieces to the turkey to transform it into a dinosaur. Staple, tape or glue the pieces in place.
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On the half sheet with the hidden turkey, have kids glue the dinosaur turkey over the folded side, concealing the hidden turkey beneath.
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When opened, it will flip from dinosaur to turkey!
With simple cutting and assembling, your turkey becomes a dino. Get creative choosing colors and decorations!
Free Printable Dinosaur Disguise Templates
To make dino disguising easy, use a pre-made printable template. Here are some options:
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The triceratops template seen in this article can be found at EasyPeasyandFun.com. Just print, color, cut and create!
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Pinterest has many turkey and dinosaur disguise templates. Search “dinosaur turkey disguise” to find one you like.
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TeachersPayTeachers.com offers a set of turkey disguises with dinosaurs and other options. Purchase and download to print.
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Google “free turkey dinosaur disguise template” and you’ll find sites offering various printable versions.
Whether making just one disguise or a whole classroom set, printable templates provide easy construction.
Creative Ideas for Making Your Turkey Dinosaur
Personalize your dino turkey with these fun creative ideas:
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Use craft foam, felt or fabric scraps for the disguise pieces instead of paper. This adds texture.
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Incorporate items like googly eyes, pom poms, foam shapes, glitter, and Wiggle Eyes to embellish your disguise.
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Attach the pieces using brads or mini paper fasteners rather than glue so they move.
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Paint the dinosaur pieces instead of coloring for artistic effects.
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Use light blue and white cardstock to make the dino look like an ice age glacial dinosaur.
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Mix textures like felt teeth, foam horns, and feather arms for a mixed media look.
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Instead of a Triceratops, create a T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor or other species.
Adding unique craft materials and textures makes your disguise stand out from the rest! Kids will love being inventive.
Writing an Imaginative Story to Go With the Disguise
A fun way to extend this activity is to have children write a short story imagining how the turkey disguise came to be. They can let their creativity flow and come up with humorous explanations for why a turkey might disguise himself as a dinosaur.
Prompt them to really think from the turkey’s perspective. Why did he want to be a dinosaur? How did he make the costume? What adventures might he have? What mishaps could occur?
Brainstorming the story together, then having kids write and illustrate their stories makes a great follow-up project. Bind the stories into a Thanksgiving book to read for years to come.
Disguise the Turkey as Other Characters
While dinosaurs make sense for Thanksgiving, you can pick other disguises too. Some fun ideas include:
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A turkey pilgrim with a hat and apron
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A turkey superhero with a cape
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A turkey Santa in red and white garb
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A turkey mummy wrapped in bandages
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A turkey vampire with cape and fangs
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A turkey Frankenstein’s monster with bolts and stitches
Let kids vote on their favorite disguise theme. Turn it into a contest to see who can create the funniest or most creative turkey character.
Host a Turkey Disguise Fashion Show
If you’re doing this project in a school or group setting, a fun event is hosting a Turkey Disguise Fashion Show.
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Have kids model their turkey disguises on a runway or stage.
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Add a red carpet and decorated backdrop.
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Play upbeat music as kids show off their turkey disguises.
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Award prizes for Most Creative, Funniest, Best Dinosaur, etc.
Making a whole production of revealing their disguises encourages enthusiasm and participation. Capture photos and video to look back on.
Make Disguising Turkeys a Yearly Family Tradition
Once you’ve had fun making a dinosaur turkey disguise, consider making it an annual family craft tradition!
On Thanksgiving or the days leading up to it, pull out art supplies and templates so kids can create new disguises each year. Keep the disguises to decorate the holiday table or make a yearly photo calendar.
Let kids reimagine new turkey disguises as their interests and skills grow. It will become something they look forward to, and you’ll build lasting memories.
Turning a turkey into a dinosaur or any creative disguise is a simple, enjoyable craft for Thanksgiving. With these how-to steps and tips, you’ll have an activity that brings smiles, laughter, and quality time year after year. Gobble gobble!
How to Make the Dinosaur Turkey Disguise
What you need:
- our dinosaur turkey in disguise printable (grab this freebie at the end of this tutorial or get the whole set with over 25 different turkey outfits)
- coloring supplies
- scissors
- glue
You can make this project with regular print paper or with heavier print paper/cardstock.
Step by Step Tutorial
Start by printing all of the pages you need (there are two ways you can make this one). This project can be done in the classroom or you can have the kids do it at home together with their parents as part of a home assignment.
Part of this template is a turkey without a disguise so your kids will color one of the sheets to look like a regular turkey; browns, yellows, reds, and orange colors are perfect for the job.
Next one is the turkey disguised as a dinosaur. You’ll need one turkey outline; have the kids color it in dinosaur colors; no rules here as we don’t actually know what colors the dinosaurs were.
Also, have the kids color the dinosaur disguise parts. We’ll be disguising this turkey as a triceratops.
Now cut out the dinosaur disguise parts as well as the turkey you colored in dinosaur colors.
It’s time to put on the disguise! Apply glue on disguise parts, ideally starting with the head.
And stick it on the turkey.
Continue with other disguise parts until the turkey is completely camouflaged like a triceratops.
Now take the printout that you colored to look like a regular turkey: either the one with the text or the one with a small rectangle on top of it. Both of the printouts have a dashed line on them; fold along that line.
Thanksgiving T Rex Dinosaur Turkey Costume Spare Tire Cover | BESTSHOP2910
FAQ
Are turkeys considered dinosaurs?
How to disguise a turkey as an iron man?
Is your turkey a dinosaur?