15+ Turkey Trouble Crafts and Activities for Kids

Bring Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano to life with these fun and easy Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble crafts and activities for preschoolers and kindergarteners! From adorable turkey crafts to hands-on literacy games and free printables, these book-inspired ideas are perfect for Thanksgiving classroom fun.

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Turkey Trouble Crafts and Activities

Looking for fun Turkey Trouble crafts and activities to go along with the popular Thanksgiving picture book by Wendi Silvano? These adorable turkey crafts, hands-on learning games, and free Thanksgiving printables are perfect for bringing this hilarious story to life with preschoolers and kindergarteners!

If you’re planning a Thanksgiving classroom theme, putting together a seasonal literacy center, or looking for a fun Thanksgiving read-aloud activity, these Turkey Trouble crafts and activities are a great place to start.

About Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano

If you haven’t read Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, you’re in for a treat!

In this hilarious Thanksgiving story, Turkey has a big BIG problem.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and he’s worried that he might end up as the main course!

So, Turkey comes up with a clever plan. He decides to disguise himself as other farm animals in hopes of avoiding becoming Thanksgiving dinner.

From dressing up like a horse to pretending to be a cow, Turkey tries one silly costume after another.

But will any of his disguises actually work?

With its funny storyline, clever costumes, and surprise ending, Turkey Trouble is a wonderful Thanksgiving read-aloud for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Shop Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano on Amazon

I especially love using this book to introduce conversations about problem-solving, creativity, sequencing, and making predictions.

And, of course, it’s the perfect excuse to make some adorable turkey crafts!

Why Pair Crafts and Activities With Turkey Trouble?

One of my favorite ways to extend a picture book is by pairing it with simple, hands-on activities.

Not only does this make storytime more memorable, but it also gives little learners opportunities to practice important early learning skills.

These Turkey Trouble crafts and activities are wonderful for:

Strengthening fine motor skills through painting, tearing, cutting, and gluing.
Encouraging creativity and imaginative thinking.
Practicing letter recognition and early math skills.
Building listening comprehension and story sequencing skills.
Encouraging children to make predictions and solve problems.
Creating meaningful connections between books and hands-on learning.

Whether you’re teaching a classroom full of preschoolers or enjoying a Thanksgiving activity at home, there’s something here for everyone.

Supplies for Turkey Trouble Crafts and Activities

One of the things I love most about these Turkey Trouble crafts and activities is that you probably already have many of the supplies on hand.

Here’s what I recommend keeping nearby:

White cardstock – perfect for printing turkey craft templates and learning games.
Construction paper – great for colorful feathers, disguises, and torn paper crafts.
Washable tempera paint – ideal for fork painting, stamping, and paint splat crafts.
Purple disappearing glue sticks – especially helpful for little learners.
Child-safe scissors – perfect for practicing cutting skills.
Self-laminating sheets – useful for protecting printable matching games.
Washable markers – great for coloring turkey disguises and completing worksheets.

You certainly don’t need everything on this list!

Choose a few activities that work best for your children and use the supplies you already have.

Turkey Trouble Crafts for Kids

Let’s start with the crafts!

These adorable turkey crafts are easy to prepare, use simple supplies, and make a wonderful follow-up activity after reading Turkey Trouble.

Fork-Painted Turkey Craft

Our fork-painted turkey craft is such a fun way to get little hands creating after reading Turkey Trouble!

Instead of using a traditional paintbrush, children use a plastic fork to create colorful turkey feathers.

We love using red, orange, and yellow tempera paint to give our turkeys a beautiful fall-inspired look.

Once the painted feathers are dry, children can assemble their turkeys using our free printable template.

Turkey Trouble connection: Ask children what kind of disguise their turkey might create using its colorful feathers. Could it hide among the autumn leaves?

This easy Thanksgiving craft is perfect for preschool art centers, kindergarten classrooms, and Thanksgiving bulletin boards.

Torn Paper Turkey Craft

If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving craft that doubles as a fine motor activity, you’ll love our torn paper turkey craft.

Children tear small pieces of colorful construction paper and glue them onto a rainbow-shaped feather template.

Once the feathers are complete, they color and attach their turkey body to finish their masterpiece.

The best part?

Every turkey turns out a little differently!

Turkey Trouble connection: Invite children to imagine that their colorful turkey needs a disguise. What could they add to help Turkey blend in with his surroundings?

This is a wonderful opportunity to encourage creative thinking while strengthening those important little hand muscles.

Fall Leaf Turkey Craft

Our fall leaf turkey craft is another adorable Thanksgiving activity that pairs beautifully with Turkey Trouble.

Using our free printable template, children create colorful paper leaves in shades of red, orange, and yellow.

The leaves become the turkey’s beautiful fall feathers!

It’s a simple cut-and-paste craft that works especially well with preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Turkey Trouble connection: What if Turkey decided to disguise himself as a pile of autumn leaves?

Ask children whether they think that would be a clever disguise and why.

I love how this activity encourages children to think about the story while creating something beautiful for Thanksgiving.

Paint Splat Turkey Craft

Get ready for some messy Thanksgiving fun!

Our paint splat turkey craft is a playful process-art activity that children absolutely love.

Using a spoon, colorful tempera paint, googly eyes, and our free turkey template, children create one-of-a-kind turkeys with vibrant painted feathers.

The splatting technique makes this craft especially exciting for little learners.

And because the paint spreads differently every time, no two turkeys look exactly alike!

Turkey Trouble connection: Encourage children to give their finished turkey a name and invent a silly disguise that might help it escape Thanksgiving dinner.

You could even have children share their ideas with the class!

Toilet Paper Roll Stamped Turkey Craft

Looking for a creative way to reuse empty cardboard tubes?

Our toilet paper roll stamped turkey craft is a fun Thanksgiving art activity that uses recycled materials.

Children dip an empty toilet paper roll into tempera paint and stamp colorful patterns to create their turkey’s feathers.

Then, they use our free printable turkey template to complete their craft.

This activity is especially fun for preschoolers who enjoy stamping and experimenting with paint.

Turkey Trouble connection: Have children imagine that Turkey wants to disguise himself as a different animal. Which animal would they choose, and what would they need to change?

This is a great way to extend the story through imaginative play and conversation.

Handprint Turkey Craft

There’s something extra special about Thanksgiving handprint crafts!

Our Handprint Turkey Craft is a fun and easy way to turn little handprints into adorable Thanksgiving turkeys.

Not only is this activity a wonderful opportunity for creativity, but it also makes a sweet keepsake that parents will love displaying year after year.

Turkey Trouble connection: After reading the story, invite children to imagine how Turkey could use his colorful feathers to create a clever new disguise.

What could their handprint turkey pretend to be? Would the farmer recognize him?

Encourage children to share their silly disguise ideas as they complete their crafts.

This easy turkey craft is perfect for preschool art centers, Thanksgiving classroom displays, and festive family crafting.

Turkey Trouble Learning Activities and Printables

Crafting isn’t the only way to extend this adorable Thanksgiving story!

I also love pairing seasonal picture books with simple literacy and math activities.

These Thanksgiving learning games and worksheets are perfect for morning tubs, literacy centers, math stations, early finishers, and quiet time activities.

Turkey Name Craft

Our Turkey Name Craft is a fun way to combine Thanksgiving creativity with important early literacy skills!

Children create an adorable turkey while practicing how to recognize, spell, and build their names. It’s a wonderful hands-on activity for preschoolers and kindergarteners who are learning the letters in their names.

Turkey Trouble connection: After reading Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, ask children to imagine that Turkey needs a brand-new identity to help him hide from the farmer!

Have children complete their turkey name crafts and then come up with a silly new name for Turkey’s disguise.

This easy Thanksgiving name craft is perfect for literacy centers, morning work, and festive classroom bulletin boards.

Gratitude Turkey Craft

Our Gratitude Turkey Craft is a sweet and meaningful Thanksgiving activity that encourages little learners to think about all the things they’re thankful for!

Children create an adorable turkey while reflecting on the special people, places, and things that make them happy.

It’s a wonderful way to introduce gratitude to preschoolers and kindergarteners while practicing creativity and early writing skills.

Turkey Trouble connection: After reading Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, ask children what they think Turkey might be thankful for at the end of the story.

Then, encourage children to think about what they’re thankful for in their own lives as they complete their gratitude turkeys.

This meaningful Thanksgiving craft is perfect for classroom discussions, November bulletin boards, and take-home keepsakes.

Thanksgiving Alphabet Matching Game

Our Thanksgiving alphabet matching game is a fun way to practice uppercase and lowercase letter recognition.

Children work to find matching letter pairs while strengthening their visual discrimination and early literacy skills.

I especially love laminating matching games so they can be reused throughout the Thanksgiving season.

Turkey Trouble connection: After reading the story, invite children to find the letters in the word TURKEY.

Older kindergarteners can also practice identifying the beginning sounds of animals featured in the story.

This makes a wonderful addition to a Thanksgiving-themed literacy center.

Pumpkin Pie Number Matching Game

Remember the clever surprise at the end of Turkey Trouble?

Turkey’s solution involves pizza!

That makes our pumpkin pie number matching game a fun food-themed math extension for Thanksgiving.

This printable matching game includes whole pumpkin pies with numbers and corresponding cards featuring groups of pie slices.

Children match each number from 1 to 10 with the correct quantity.

It’s a wonderful hands-on way to practice counting, number recognition, and one-to-one correspondence.

Turkey Trouble connection: Talk about the foods in the story and the different foods families might enjoy at Thanksgiving.

Then, invite children to practice counting slices of pumpkin pie.

For extra durability, I recommend printing the cards on white cardstock and using self-laminating sheets.

Thanksgiving Worksheets for Preschool and Kindergarten

If you’re looking for a simple way to reinforce early learning skills after storytime, our Thanksgiving worksheets are a great option.

These seasonal printable worksheets are designed for young learners and make an easy addition to Thanksgiving classroom activities.

They’re especially useful for independent work, morning activities, and quiet learning time.

Turkey Trouble connection: After reading the story, invite children to complete a Thanksgiving worksheet while discussing their favorite part of Turkey’s adventure.

You could also encourage children to name the different animals Turkey tried to imitate.

I love keeping seasonal worksheets in reusable dry erase pockets so children can practice more than once.

More Turkey Trouble Book Companion Activities

Want to make your Turkey Trouble read-aloud even more memorable?

Here are a few additional Turkey Trouble crafts and activities inspired by Turkey’s hilarious attempts to escape Thanksgiving dinner.

These ideas require very little preparation and are perfect for preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Disguise a Turkey Activity

This might be my favorite activity to pair with Turkey Trouble!

After reading the story, challenge children to create their very own turkey disguise.

Give each child a simple turkey outline along with crayons, markers, construction paper scraps, glue, and other craft supplies.

Then, encourage them to disguise their turkey as something completely different.

Some fun ideas include:

🐄 Cow
🐷 Pig
🐴 Horse
🦁 Lion
🦸 Superhero
🎅 Santa Claus
🤖 Robot
🦋 Butterfly

The sillier, the better!

Once everyone has finished, display the disguised turkeys on a classroom bulletin board.

Bulletin board idea: “Turkey Trouble! We’re in Disguise!”

This would also make a wonderful take-home family project.

Turkey Trouble Story Retelling Activity

Story retelling is such an important early literacy skill, and Turkey Trouble is a wonderful book for practicing it.

After reading the story, invite children to remember the different disguises Turkey tries.

You can use simple animal picture cards or small farm animal toys to help children retell the story.

Encourage children to use sequencing words such as:

First, next, then, and finally.

For younger preschoolers, start by asking them to remember just two or three of Turkey’s disguises.

Older children can try to retell more of the story in the correct order.

For an extra hands-on element, place the animal cards in a pocket chart and let children rearrange them as you reread the book.

Design a New Turkey Costume

Turkey certainly comes up with some creative costumes in the story!

But what if he needed one more disguise?

Give children a blank sheet of paper and encourage them to design a completely new costume for Turkey.

They might turn him into a firefighter, dinosaur, snowman, or even a giant pumpkin!

Once they’ve finished, invite each child to explain their design.

Ask:

“What makes your disguise a good one?”

“Do you think the farmer would recognize Turkey?”

This is a wonderful way to encourage creativity, oral language development, and problem-solving.

Turkey Trouble Discussion Questions

One of the easiest ways to extend a picture book is through conversation.

After reading Turkey Trouble, gather children together and ask a few simple questions about the story.

Here are some of my favorites:

Why was Turkey worried about Thanksgiving?
What was your favorite disguise Turkey tried?
Why didn’t Turkey’s disguises fool the farmer?
What would you disguise Turkey as?
How did Turkey finally solve his problem?

These questions encourage children to recall important details, make predictions, and think about the characters’ feelings.

They’re also a great way to build comprehension skills without needing additional supplies.

If I Were Turkey Writing Activity

This simple writing prompt is a fun way to combine literacy and creativity.

After reading the story, write this sentence starter on the board:

“If I were Turkey, I would disguise myself as a ______.”

Invite children to finish the sentence and draw a picture of their disguise.

For preschoolers who aren’t writing independently yet, encourage them to dictate their answers while an adult writes them down.

Kindergarteners can practice writing their own responses.

Once everyone has finished, create a classroom book filled with the children’s creative ideas.

I think this would be especially adorable displayed in a Thanksgiving reading corner!

Turkey Disguise Guessing Game

This is a fun, low-prep activity that gets children moving and thinking!

After reading Turkey Trouble, explain that everyone will get a chance to pretend to be a disguised turkey.

Invite one child to act like an animal without saying its name.

The rest of the group must guess which animal they’re pretending to be.

Children can use movements and sounds to give clues.

For example, a child pretending to be a horse might gallop around the classroom, while someone pretending to be a cow might walk slowly and moo.

Once the animal has been guessed, choose another child to take a turn.

This simple game is wonderful for encouraging imaginative play, listening skills, and gross motor movement.

More Thanksgiving Crafts and Activities for Kids

Looking for even more Thanksgiving fun?

Here are a few additional Thanksgiving crafts and activities that are perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

These would make wonderful additions to a Thanksgiving classroom theme or a week of seasonal learning activities.

Whether you’re looking for a quick Thanksgiving craft, a hands-on math game, or a seasonal literacy activity, there are plenty of ideas to keep little learners busy throughout November.

Before You Go

I hope these Turkey Trouble crafts and activities have inspired you to plan some fun Thanksgiving learning experiences with your preschoolers and kindergarteners!

From colorful turkey crafts to printable matching games and silly turkey disguises, there are so many Turkey Trouble crafts and activities to bring Wendi Silvano’s hilarious Thanksgiving story to life.

Don’t forget to save this post for later so you can come back to these ideas when you’re planning your Thanksgiving activities.

And if you’re looking for even more seasonal inspiration, be sure to check out our complete collection of Thanksgiving crafts and activities for kids.

Happy crafting and happy Thanksgiving!