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An Easy & Quick Thankful Turkey Homeschool Activity for Thanksgiving

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Thankful Turkey Activity + coloring page

A cute Thanksgiving activity for parents looking for a quick Thanksgiving activity to do with the kiddos.

assortment of colorful target brand crayons laid across a thanksgiving activity

I found myself disappointed while digging around for a quick homeschool activity to do with the kids for Thanksgiving.

The cute ones required payment and the others didn’t have enough of a learning aspect to them so I decided to create my own instead and share it with all of you.

Below you will find an adorable turkey activity that can incorporate social studies, language, creativity, and even a little science.

My 3 year old wasn’t able to cut everything on her own so I made a Turkey coloring page for her which I have also included as a free printable.

thanksgiving turkey coloring page that is already colored in with pink, blue, and brown crayon.

supplies

  • scissors
  • crayons
  • glue or tape

step by step guide

  1. print out your Thankful Turkey by clicking one or both of the options below.
thankful turkey free printable activity
thanksgiving turkey coloring page free printable
  1. draw the wattle

educational fun fact: All turkeys have wattles but only the males gobble. The males use their special gobble noise to attract females.

I chose to not include the wattle in the printable so the kids learn this as one of the identifiers for a turkey.

line drawing of a turkey with a wattle being drawn on
  1. Color the rest of it in

I chose more traditional Thanksgiving turkey colors but feel free to really get creative with it.

line drawing of a turkey colored in using brown, black, and orange crayon

For funny reels and daily extras, follow me on instagram

  1. fill in the blanks

write down what you’re thankful for in the feathers then color those in too. It’s ok to go outside the lines because you’ll be cutting everything out in the next step.

  1. cut, assemble, and glue

cut your turkey and the feathers out then glue the feathers to the back of the turkey. It might be easier for the younger ones to just tape everything on.

once you put it all together, post it to instagram and tag thetattooed.momma to be featured in stories!

Brand new to The Tattooed Momma, Click below for my most popular posts/videos.

DIY Native American Corn Husk Dolls

Make your own Baby Carrier

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other Thankful Turkey creations

Easy Corn Husk Doll Tutorial – Native American

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Easy Corn Husk Doll Tutorial – Native American

Easy Native American Corn Husk Doll tutorial you and your kids’ will love while learning a little about Choctaw tradition.

5 Native American corn husk dolls. 3 male 2 female all with various colored hair ranging from white, black, brown, and orange.

These little dolls are the perfect STEAM activity for your kids. Although we didn’t originally start making these with the intent of it being a homeschool lesson, it sure did turn out that way.

Science: The kids were able to see cause and effect from when you dip the corn husk in water.

Technology: Learning how the Native Americans recycled every bit of the corn to keep their carbon footprint as low as possible.

Engineer: Little hands learning how to construct a toy from things around the house.

Art: Aside from building these traditional dolls, my older ones started seeing what other creations they could come up with. Planes, eagles, babies…all made from their imagination.

Math: basic counting skills -> 5 cornhusks, 20 pieces of hair, etc.

…and a fun, traditional story to go along with it.

5 native american corn husk dolls laying on a piece of natural wood.

scroll down for video

Supplies

  • 5 corn husks
  • yarn (in any color you want the doll’s hair to be)
  • scissors
  • container of water

Instructions

Step 1. fan 4 cornhusks out onto your work surface.

Step 2. cut 20 pieces of yarn to use as the doll’s hair and place them in the center of the fanned out corn husks.

NOTE: It’s better to make your hair long to begin with then trim at the end if necessary.

Step 3. Using the corn husks as a tortilla, roll the yarn up like a burrito.

Step 4. Tie a double knot towards the top to secure the yarn and corn husks together.

NOTE: You should have a little stem at the top now.

Step 5. Pretend your corn husk is a banana and grab “the stem” then start pulling the corn husk flaps down – just like your peeling a banana.

TIP: DIP YOUR DOLL IN THE WATER FOR 3 SECONDS TO MAKE IT EASY TO MANIPULATE.

Step 6. Decide how long or short you want your doll’s head to be and tie your second knot.

Step 7. Take your 5th piece of corn husk and roll it up like a taco all by itself. Then tie a knot at each end to make the doll’s hands.

Step 8. Turn the doll to the side and split it in half. Then stuff the arms up into the body

Step 9. Decide how long or short you want the body to be then tie a double knot.

You can choose to be done here or keep reading if you want a boy doll.

Want funny reels and daily extras? Then follow me on instagram!

Step 10 – BOY CORN HUSK DOLL. From the body and on down, use scissors to cut the doll in half to make two legs then tie a double knot at each end to create feet.

Corn Husk Doll video here.

keep scrolling for printable How To

Other corn husk dolls we’ve made to show there is no right way to do this fun activity.

9 differently made corn husk dolls ranging from tall, short, and orange, white, black, or brown hair.
Yield: 1

Easy Corn Husk Doll Tutorial - Native American

5 different native american corn husk dolls with either brown, orange, black, or white yarn hair
Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 5 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Materials

  • 5 corn husks
  • any color yarn - for hair
  • container of water

Tools

  • scissors

Instructions

  1. fan 4 cornhusks out onto your work surface.
  2. cut 20 pieces of yarn to use as the doll's hair and place in the center of fanned out corn husks.
  3. using the corn husks as a tortilla, roll the yarn up like a taco.
  4. tie a double knot towards the top to secure the yarn and corn husks together.
  5. grab the top, flip it over, and start pulling the corn husks over and down. Just like peeling a banana.
  6. decide how long or short you want your doll's head to be and tie your 2nd knot.
  7. take your 5th corn husk and roll it up like a taco to make 1 long arm then tie a knot on each end for hands.
  8. split the doll in half and stuff the arms up into the body.
  9. decide how long or short you want the body to be and tie a double knot.
  10. (making a boy doll) from the body and on down, use scissors to cut the doll in half to make 2 legs. Then tie a double knot at each end to create the fee.

Notes

  • it's better to make your hair long to begin with and trim if necessary at the end.
  • dip your doll in the water for 3 seconds to make it easy to manipulate.

© thetattooedmomma
Category: CREATE

Brand new to The Tattooed Momma, then Click below for my most popular posts/videos.

Easy Bagel Recipe

Make your own Baby Carrier

Turning A Closet into a Baby Nursery

Make A Pinata

How to Moby Wrap

The First Corn Husk Doll – a Native American Tale

The first corn husk doll was made by the Corn Spirit. The doll was made with a beautiful face and played well with the Native children but the doll was told over and over how beautiful she was. Hearing this often, she began to become very conceited then started to treat the children badly that would play with her.

The Corn Spirit warned the doll not to be so vain but the doll didn’t listen. So to teach the doll a lesson about humbleness and humility, the Corn Spirit took the beautiful features away from the doll.

Now,  corn husk dolls remain faceless to remind people not to ever think they are better than others.  

Bonus Story – The Gift of Corn

Long ago, 2 Choctaw men were camping along the Alabama River when they heard a beautiful but sad sound. They followed the sound until they came upon Ohoyo Osh Chishba, Unknown Woman, standing on an dirt mound. The men asked how they could help her so she answered with “I’m hungry.”

The men gave her all their food but Unknown Woman only ate a little then thanked them with a promise.

She said, “Tell no one you saw me and I will ask the Great Spirit to give you a gift. Then return here at the new moon.” So the Choctaw men went home and said nothing.

The next day they returned to the river as instructed, but Unknown Woman was not there. Instead, in the place where they had seen her, stood a tall green plant. That plant was corn and a great gift indeed.

native american corn husk dolls with orange, brown, and black hair. female and male dolls shown on vintage hutch