How Do You Trace Your Hand To Make A Turkey?

Hand turkey art is a fun and simple Thanksgiving craft often created by children. It involves tracing your hand to make the shape of a turkey. Hand turkeys first became popular in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s and have remained a staple elementary school art project for Thanksgiving ever since.

Hand turkeys are a great way to get kids involved in Thanksgiving preparations and crafts. The simplicity of tracing their hand makes it easy for even very young children to participate. Teachers also appreciate that hand turkey crafts require minimal supplies like construction paper, markers, and glue. Overall, hand turkeys are a budget-friendly and nostalgic Thanksgiving tradition.

Gather Materials

To make a hand turkey art craft, you will need the following supplies:

• Construction paper or cardstock in fall colors like brown, orange, yellow, or red (according to Crayola)
• Googly eyes
• Glue or tape
• Markers, crayons, or colored pencils for decorating
• Scissors
• Pencil

Make sure to have all of your supplies gathered before starting the project. Construction paper, googly eyes, glue, and decorating materials like markers or crayons are essential. You’ll also need a pencil for tracing and scissors for cutting out the handprint shape.

Trace Your Hand

The first step in making a hand turkey is to trace your hand. Start by spreading your fingers apart and placing your hand palm down on a sheet of paper. Make sure your fingers are together to form the shape of the turkey’s body. Then, using a pencil or pen, carefully trace around the edges of your entire hand. Focus on tracing the outline of your fingers and wrist so you capture the full shape of your handprint. Press down lightly as you trace so you get a clean outline. Once finished tracing, lift your hand straight up off the paper to reveal the turkey hand outline. Make sure all five fingers and your wrist and palm are visible in the tracing before moving on to the next steps. This hand tracing will serve as the base of your turkey art (Source).

Add Wings

After tracing your hand on the paper, the next step is to add wings on each side. The wings will resemble the spread-out feathers of a real turkey. To draw the wings:

1. On either side of the traced hand, draw a half wing shape that mirrors the span of the fingers. Make sure to leave enough space between the wing and fingers so the wing does not overlap the hand tracing. The wing shape should fan out from where the wrist meets the page to just past the length of the middle finger.¹

2. Draw another half wing shape on the opposite side of the hand in the same way. The two wing shapes should be symmetrical.² Make sure to leave a gap between the hands and wings.

3. Fill in the wing shapes to create the appearance of feathers. Consider using curved or zig-zag lines to add texture.

The spread wing shapes on each side of the traced hand will resemble the outstretched wings of a turkey ready to take flight!

Create the Head

To create the turkey’s head, focus on drawing above the wrist where your thumb is. Start by drawing a U-shape that curves up and around your thumb. Make sure to leave enough space between the U and your thumb for the turkey’s beak. Next, draw another U-shape inside the first, so you have two parallel curved lines. These will be the outline for the head.

Now connect the bottom ends of the Us to make the turkey’s chin. Draw a slightly curved line across to connect the edges of the Us and complete the turkey’s head shape. Make sure to leave an opening for the beak. The head should be a large oval shape above your thumb. Try to fill up a good portion of the palm with the size of the head.

For the turkey’s beak, draw a long triangle shape from the base of your thumb down toward your wrist. The beak can curve slightly and should take up about a third of the palm space. Add a circle on each side of the beak for eyes. Now you have the basic shape for your turkey’s head!

Cite: https://easydrawingguides.com/how-to-draw-a-turkey-face/

Add Feet

To add the turkey’s feet, you’ll want to draw two lines perpendicular to the pinky knuckle of the traced hand. Make sure these two lines are roughly the same length and angle. According to the instructables guide, “Feet will be drawn at the bottom of the turkey by drawing two straight lines. At the end of each line, draw three more little lines” (source).

The two feet lines should go out from the bottom of the traced hand, acting as the legs of the turkey. Make sure to space them apart appropriately. At the end of each foot line, draw three small lines for the turkey’s toes.

The feet will help stabilize your hand turkey and give it character. Feel free to get creative with the shape and size of the feet!

Decorate

Once the basic hand turkey shape is complete, it’s time to decorate it! This is where kids can get really creative. Some fun ideas for decorating hand turkeys include:

Use crayons, markers, or paint to color the turkey’s body. Try doing patterns like polka dots, stripes, or swirls. Use fall colors like red, orange, yellow, or brown. Or just let kids color randomly for a fun, colorful turkey.

Glue on feathers to make the turkey look fluffy. Real feathers can be used, or make feather shapes by cutting craft felt or construction paper. Go around the edges of the handprint to make a feathered border. Large feathers can also be glued on for the tail.

Add wiggly eyes or draw funny eyes and expressions on the turkey’s face. Get silly by making googly eyes, grumpy faces, or wacky glasses. Let kids get creative with the turkey’s personality.

Use glitter, sequins, beads, pom poms, or other embellishments to jazz it up. These add some sparkle and texture.

There are endless ways to decorate hand turkeys with craft supplies! Encourage kids to personalize their turkey however they wish to make it unique.

Some inspiration can be found at https://www.pinterest.com/erikaag06/hand-turkey/

Add Facial Features

Adding googly eyes, a beak, and a wattle will give your hand turkey personality and help make it look like a real turkey. According to the Good Housekeeping article “How to Make a Hand Turkey in 7 Easy Steps,” you can add googly eyes by putting a dab of glue on the back of each googly eye and pressing them onto your turkey near the thumb knuckle to make the eyes (1).

You can make the beak and wattle out of construction paper, felt, or foam. Cut out orange construction paper in the shape of a half circle or oval for the beak, and cut out red construction paper in a wattle shape. Glue the beak below the googly eyes onto the palm under the thumb. Then glue the wattle beneath the beak (2). Make sure to let the glue fully dry before moving on.

If you don’t have googly eyes, you can also draw eyes and a beak with crayons, markers, or paint. Just draw two large ovals for eyes and an orange triangle for a beak. Get creative with different sizes and colors!

Make It 3D

Attaching your hand turkey to a popsicle stick is a great way to make it stand up and add a fun 3D element. Start by tracing your child’s hand on a flat surface like cardboard or construction paper. After decorating the hand turkey, take a popsicle stick and carefully poke it through the palm of the traced hand print.

Make sure to push it all the way through so both ends of the stick are sticking out. You may need to use a little bit of tape or glue to secure the popsicle stick in place. Let the glue or tape fully dry before standing the hand turkey up. The popsicle stick helps give stability and structure so your hand turkey craft can stand on its own. Kids will love seeing their 2D artwork suddenly become a 3D sculpture!

Some other options for making hand turkeys stand up include attaching them to lollipop sticks, wooden skewers, straws, or pipe cleaners. Get creative with different materials you have around the house. The popsicle stick is an easy, accessible option that works well. The hand turkey can now be proudly displayed on a table, shelf or mantel during Thanksgiving.

https://www.simpleeverydaymom.com/turkey-popsicle-stick-craft/

Display

There are many fun ways to display your finished hand turkey art. Here are some ideas:

• Hang it on the fridge or on a wall. Hand turkeys make great refrigerator art!
• Use magnets or tape to display it on a metal surface like a locker or filing cabinet.
• Attach it to a painted wooden board to make a rustic wall plaque. Add a hanger on the back for easy display.
• Glue it to colorful scrapbook paper or cardstock and frame it. This makes a nice Thanksgiving decoration.
• Group several hand turkeys together in a wall collage or art display.
• Use it as a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table. Prop it up in a small pot or stand.
• Turn it into a greeting card to send to loved ones.
• Use clear contact paper to laminate it and turn it into a placemat.

Get creative with how you show off your handmade turkey art. The fun colors and designs will liven up any space this Thanksgiving.