How To Make A Hand Turkey In 7 Easy Steps - Good Housekeeping

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thanksgiving crafts, diy turkey drawing made using a hand

A Thanksgiving scene that's all too familiar: You're (still!) toiling away in the hot kitchen with your apron on, trying to whip up a batch of mashed potatoes while putting the finishing touches on your Thanksgiving dessert. No doubt your culinary genius will wow your family, but the kids are NOT cooperating during the last-minute crunch time. Cue the whining: "Moooooooom, I'm bored! Why can't I just watch YouTube challenges on my iPad?"

Before you cave in to the mindless tech, try busting out a few sheets of plain white computer paper, plus a pack of washable markers, and challenge your restless crew to create these so-simple DIY hand turkeys — the easiest of the easy Thanksgiving crafts for kids. We've conveniently mapped out an exact step-by-step tutorial, below. But if you have extra buttons, sequins, feathers, pom-poms, stickers or glitter kicking around the arts-and-crafts closet? Bling out that bird — we sprinkled glitter for the hat buckle and glued on a googly eye for the peeper.

One more genius mom hack: You can transform their masterpieces into placemats to make the perfect Thanksgiving table settings. Simply have each child write their name on their drawing, then nudge them to exercise some independence and set the kids' table with pride while they're at it. Pro tip: You might want to think about upgrading to a thicker card stock for the placemat project. It's more durable and can go the distance from dinner to dessert. Gobble, gobble!

Your masterpiece.

Meaghan Murphy

Below, your find step-by-step instructions to make this adorable Thanksgiving craft. You can also follow along in the video above.

Outline your hand.

Grab a fresh sheet of white computer paper and trace the outline of your hand using a sharp pencil. Tip: You might want to remove bracelets and bling for smoother lines ... unlike me!

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Admire your handiwork.

Yay! You've traced your hand. Now draw a line to separate your "feathers" from the body of your turkey.

Color in the lines.

Or don't! We traced our "turkey" in brown marker, then used crayons to have fun with the feathers. Blue? You betcha!

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Draw wings and feet.

Using makers, draw a wing on the body of the turkey and two little turkey legs with toes.

Glue on a googly eye.

Glue one on if you got 'em, otherwise a simple black dot with a marker will do the trick.

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Add a waddle and snood.

Draw on the waddle and snood with red and orange markers. Then impress your friends with the fact that you actually know what those turkey parts are called.

Put on a festive hat.

Draw it in black marker, the run a line of glue for the buckle, sprinkle with glitter and shake. Your masterpiece is served!

Meaghan B MurphyEditor-in-ChiefWoman's Day editor-in-chief Meaghan B Murphy is known for her high-energy, upbeat personality and YAY lifestyle. She is a certified fitness expert, hack master, Penguin-Random House author, editor, podcaster, holiday celebrity and mama of 3 (plus a fur baby!).Advertisement - Continue Reading Below