The holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to get creative and festive with a fun and quirky project that combines Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grab our disguise a turkey as a Santa printable template and let your kids transform a regular turkey into a Santa Claus.
Just imagine disguising your turkey as Santa Claus – it is a whimsical way to bridge the gap between these two beloved holidays. With our free printable template and a dash of creativity, your kids can make this holiday mashup a reality!
Turkey in disguise activities are a delightful and creative tradition that many families and schools embrace during the Thanksgiving season. The project is inspired by the book titled Turkey Trouble, which we certainly recommend reading along making this activity.
The activity involves taking a turkey cutout and giving it a whimsical makeover to “disguise” it as something else. The goal is not only to engage in a fun project but also to encourage creative writing – this is why we also added a writing prompt to this Thanksgiving activity.
What makes this particular turkey disguised as Santa Claus craft template extra fun is the fact that your kids can make it in a way that the disguise can come on and off.
Want another festive character? Be sure to also check out our snowman-disguised turkey or the unicorn turkey.
The holiday season is a magical time of year for families. As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, people look for fun ways to celebrate. An imaginative project that combines these two holidays is disguising a turkey as Santa Claus! This whimsical craft allows kids to get creative and bridge the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas with a cute disguise. In this article, we’ll explore how to transform a turkey into Saint Nick through simple crafting techniques.
Gather Your Materials
To embark on this holiday masquerade. you’ll need
- Turkey template – Printable outline of a turkey body (download one here)
- Construction paper or cardstock in red, white, black, yellow
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Googly eyes
- Pom poms
- Markers or crayons
Using cardstock or heavy construction paper works best for durability. But regular paper gets the job done too. Set out these supplies and you’re ready to craft!
Step 1: Print and Cut Out the Turkey Template
To begin, print out your chosen turkey template on construction paper or cardstock. For best results, use white or brown paper for the main turkey body. Carefully cut out each part of the turkey – the body, head, beard, hat, etc. A printable template makes this step easy.
Step 2: Disguise the Head
It’s time to give this turkey a Saint Nick makeover starting with the head. Glue on a white beard below the beak, leaving the bottom unglued for now. Add a red snood (the fleshy part above the beak). Then glue on an orange triangle beak and 2 googly eyes. Top it off with a Santa hat by gluing a white fluffy ball to a red cone and placing it slightly over the eyes.
Step 3: Add the Santa Suit
Next, disguise the body. Glue the red coat to the turkey, covering its front. Add a black belt around the belly. Then glue a yellow buckle to the center and draw lines across it with a black marker.
Step 4: Attach the Boots
No Santa is complete without those famous black boots! Cut foot shapes from black construction paper. Glue these to the bottom of the turkey’s body with the toes pointing up.
Step 5: Final Touches
Finish up by gluing your Santa’d turkey onto brown construction paper cut into the shape of a sack. You can also use colorful feathers for a festive flair. And just like that, your turkey is ready to deliver presents down the chimney!
Creative Variations
Once you get the basic technique down, there are many ways to customize your disguised turkey. Here are some fun ideas:
-
Use different colored construction paper like green, blue, or purple.
-
Add patterns like polka dots or stripes with markers.
-
Use wiggly eyes instead of googly eyes for a silly touch.
-
Give your Santa turkey a candy cane beak.
-
Craft a Mrs. Claus turkey with a red dress and bonnet.
-
Make reindeer antlers with brown craft foam.
-
Equip your turkey with a miniature toy sack of presents.
Engaging Kids in the Process
Disguising a turkey provides a rewarding hands-on experience for kids. Here are some ways to keep them engaged:
-
Encourage coloring customization of their turkey template.
-
Let them pick out fun embellishments like pom poms or craft jewels.
-
Guide cutting tasks for very young children.
-
Ask them to tell a story about their Santa turkey.
-
Help them write a letter from their turkey to Santa.
-
Assist with gluing as needed.
-
Display finished turkeys proudly!
Thanksgiving to Christmas Fun
What better way to countdown to Christmas than with a clever turkey disguise? For a full holiday experience, be sure to also read the delightful book Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano which inspired this craft. Your customized Santa turkeys will be the talk of both dinner tables. Most importantly, enjoy the quality time spent creating with your kids. Those memories will be the real keepsakes you cherish.
Make Disguising Turkeys a New Tradition
With a dash of creativity and some simple supplies, disguising a turkey as Santa makes for a fun new holiday tradition. Bring joy and whimsy to your Thanksgiving season with this simple kids craft. For more ideas, check out our step-by-step guide on how to disguise a turkey as a snowman or as a unicorn too. Let your kids’ imagination run wild as they transform an ordinary turkey into St. Nick or another amusing character. Full of laughter and quality time, may your new turkey disguising tradition live on for many holidays to come.
How to Use the Disguise a Turkey as a Santa Printable Template
What you need:
- our printable template (you can grab the free printable Santa turkey in disguise template at the end of this tutorial; we also have a set with over 25 characters available)
- coloring supplies
- scissors
- glue
This printout works best when printed on cardstock/heavier print paper, but using regular print paper works out well, too.
Step by Step Tutorial
Print the sheet that has the “I am not a turkey, I am…” text on it. This one will be used as a background and will show the turkey without a disguise.
Have the kids color it in with colors they feel represent the regular-looking turkey the most. Kids can use crayons, coloring pencils, or markers (markers really make this craft pop).
Also, print the sheet with just the turkey on it. This is where we’ll design the Santa Claus disguise for the turkey. Kids can color it whole or just the parts that won’t be hidden by the disguise.
We colored the head of the turkey with a skin tone color and we decided to mask the tail of the turkey to look like piles of snow by drawing blue lines.
Print the sheet with Santa accessories and have the kids color them in.
Cut out the turkey outline and the accessories.
Apply glue on the accessories and disguise a turkey as a Santa. A coat to hide the body.
A pair of boots to hide the turkey feet.
We must also hide the beak, Santa’s beard is just the thing. Don’t forget the hat!
Now, take the sheet with the turkey without a Santa Claus disguise. Fold along the dashed line on that printout.
Apply glue in the middle of the folded part.
Glue on the disguised turkey.
All done, now the turkey can take the Santa disguise off and put it back on in no time.
Santa Turkey Disguise Craft For Kids
FAQ
How to make a turkey look like Santa Claus?
How to disguise a turkey as an iron man?
What does it mean to disguise a turkey?
How do you disguise a turkey writing prompt?
How do you make a Santa Claus disguise for a Turkey?
Kids can use crayons, coloring pencils, or markers (markers really make this craft pop). Also, print the sheet with just the turkey on it. This is where we’ll design the Santa Claus disguise for the turkey. Kids can color it whole or just the parts that won’t be hidden by the disguise.
How do kids disguise a Turkey?
Some kids choose to disguise a turkey as their favorite superhero, while others hide them under a Santa suit. One child might decide to use leaves to turn a turkey into a peacock instead, while another uses pom-poms to hide their turkey behind a gumball machine. The possibilities for creative disguises are endless with this craft project!
How do you make a disguise a Turkey?
Place the feet with the toes pointed upward and glue them to the bottom of the turkey’s body. Finish up by gluing the Santa turkey body to the feathers. Use green feathers for Christmas colors or black for Santa’s bag. We’re sure your kids loved making this cool disguise a turkey project idea!
How do you make a Santa hat for a Turkey?
Create Santa’s hat by gluing the fluff to the bottom of the hat. Glue the pom to the top end of the hat. Place the completed Santa hat on the top of the turkey’s head, slightly overlapping the top of the eyes. Next, glue the red suit to the body portion of the turkey. Position the belt in the middle of the body and glue it in place.