Weekend Fun: Bag Your Turkey!
Get your home ready for some Thanksgiving Fun by making some paper bag puppets!
TIP: Older students may want to jazz up this project by using acrylic paints to add color and patterns, and stuff the bag with crumpled paper to stand up on the family dinner table rather than using it as a puppet.
Have some fun and make more than one! Add your family’s names to use them as place cards for your holiday meal.
What you need:
- Paper lunch bag
- Paper in assorted colors – scraps are great!
- Glue stick
- Pencil
- Googly eyes (optional)
- Glue dots (optional)
- Scissors
- Markers or crayons
What you do:
- Trace a dinner plate or something else that is round and cut out the circle. Use any fall color for this part.
- Fold the circle in half, then open it and cut along the fold to make two half-circles. TIP: You only need one half-circle – use the second one for some of the feathers.
- Cut assorted feather shapes from different colors and types of paper.
- Cut an egg shape and a triangle out of yellow paper. TIP: If you don’t have yellow paper, color white paper with a yellow crayon or marker.
- To make a scalloped edge on one half-circle: Place your fist along the outside edge of the circle and trace it, then move your fist to the next spot along the edge and repeat. Keep doing this until you reach the other end. Cut out the scallops with your scissors.
- Put your hand inside the paper bag. This is how the puppet will work – the bottom of the bag becomes the puppet’s head and your hand fits inside to make it move.
- Refold the bag and place it upside down in front of you with the flat side on the table and the side with the fold facing you. TIP: The opening should be on the bottom.
- Assemble the face on the smaller rectangle above the fold and glue it down. TIP: Use Glue Dots for the googly eyes – or lots of glue to make sure they stick! TIP: If you don’t have googly eyes, cut two circles and make dots with a black marker.
- Glue the yellow egg shape on the lower part to form the turkey’s belly.
- Glue the feathers behind the scalloped half circle so that they look like the turkey’s tail, and then glue it behind the face, on the flat side of the bag.
- For a final touch, cut a red or purple scrap and glue it next to the yellow beak to serve as the turkey’s wattle, and two wings out of dark brown or similar paper and glue on either side of the turkey’s belly. Enhance your turkey with markers or crayons.
The Youth Services staff at the Franklin Township Library wishes you a safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We’re posting this early so you can make lots of them for the big day!
