CUTEST Turkey Handprint Craft+ FREE Poem Printable

Learn how to make a cute turkey handprint with paint that parents will treasure for years! This easy tutorial will show you how to make a painted turkey handprint craft that kids love to make. Download the FREE turkey handprint poem for your kids for a fun Thanksgiving craft, preschool craft, school craft, Sunday school craft, or for a sweet Thanksgiving gift for family.

Life moves so quickly and it seems like every time I blink my kids have grown another foot. As a mom of five kids, I love doing crafts with my kids that will help me hold on to where they are right now and remember when they are older.

Easy Turkey Handprint Craft

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I made a turkey handprint with my younger kids. They loved it just as much as I had hoped and now I have the cutest turkey handprint art to put in their memory books (this is how I organize my kids’ art and school work.

The great thing about this craft is-

it’s simple
it only takes a few minutes
takes just a few basic supplies
makes a great memory
is good for kids of all ages!

My 2 year-old, 9 year-old, and my 12 year-old were all excited to get in on the turkey handprint craft, which shows that this truly is a craft for all ages.

When the kids see that they are allowed to get paint all over their hands, they get on board really quickly, lol!

Turkey Handprint Supplies

You’ll need just a few simple supplies to make a turkey handprint:

FREE printable turkey handprint poem
Paintbrush
Brown, orange, yellow, red, and green craft paint
Black, orange, and red markers
Small googly eyes and glue (optional)

Download the Turkey Handprint Poem

I made a simple poem printable to go with the turkey handprint that you can download for FREE.

Just enter your name and email address below and I’ll send it straight to your inbox!

Make sure to print the turkey handprint poem onto thicker card stock so the paper doesn’t wrinkle after the paint is put on.

How to Make a Turkey Handprint

Paint the Hand

If you’re doing this turkey handprint craft with a toddler, preschooler, or early school aged child, then you will probably want to be the one to paint the colors on your child’s hand.

Older kids can paint their hand themselves if you want them to.

Starting with the brown paint, use a medium sized paintbrush to paint brown paint onto the palm of your child’s hand, and then the thumb. Be sure to use plenty of paint since it will start to dry if you’re not somewhat quick.

Next paint the pointer finger orange, the middle finger yellow, the ring finger red, then the pinky green (or any other color combination you would like).

Helpful Painting Tips:

Use plenty of paint on the palm and each each finger. We painted outside and the fingers dried somewhat quickly so I used more paint the second time, which worked much better.
Use a different paintbrush for every color. You want to get the paint on as quickly as possible with our your child drying anything or the paint drying up. I made the process faster by using a different paintbrush for each color and quickly painting each finger.
Have a paper plate or paper towel or napkin ready to put the wet paintbrushes on while you move on to the next color.
Have baby wipes ready or do this craft near the sink so your kids don’t touch their clothes or any furniture before washing their hands. I wiped their hands with a. baby wipe first, then had them go into the house and wash with soap and water afterwards.

Press the Hand Onto the Paper

Next you’ll want to grab your child’s hand, have them spread out their fingers a little, tell them to hold their hand flat, then gently press their hand down onto the paper.

I told my kids not to move their hand or fingers while I gently pressed down on them to make sure all the paint transferred onto the paper.

When it was time for them to lift their hand, I used one of my hands to hold the paper down (so it didn’t stick to their wet painted hands) and one hand to gently lift their hand off the paper.