Thanksgiving is a special time for families to get together and eat good food and take time to recognize things they are thankful for. If you are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you may want to have your children join in the preparation by creating a table center piece. A great centerpiece idea is a turkey made of Styrofoam. With a little bit of effort and some creativity, you and your child will be able to make a turkey masterpiece to accent your dining room table.
Instructions
How to Make a Styrofoam Turkey
1. Gather all the necessary materials you will need to make your Styrofoam turkey. You will need a large sized Styrofoam ball, about the size of a basketball or watermelon. You will also want a smaller sized Styrofoam ball the size of a tennis ball. You will need brown, orange and red feathers to decorate the turkey with as well as two googly eyes. You will also need a brown colored permanent marker. Finally you will need some pieces of red and orange felt fabric. You can purchase these craft materials at a craft store such as Michael's.
2. Spread out all your materials on an empty table and prepare them for use. You will want to start by cutting a small portion off of the large Styrofoam ball so that it has a flat surface that it can lie on. Use a knife to cut a small rounded section off the bottom of the round ball so that the ball rests flat on the table. You will also want to cut a small portion off of the smaller ball so you can attach it to the larger ball easily when it is time. Next take your permanent marker and draw to identical triangles onto your orange felt sheet. Cut out the triangles. They will serve as the beak for your bird. Draw a long oval with your marker on the red felt sheet. It should look sort of like a deflated balloon. Cut it out. This will later be the wattle.
3. Take your brown permanent marker and color the surfaces of the Styrofoam balls. Allow them several minutes to dry so that you do not get marker all over your hands. Attach the smaller ball to the larger ball on one of the rounded top ends. Stick a couple toothpicks into the flat edge of the smaller ball so that two thirds of the picks are sticking out. Add some crazy glue to the flat surface of the ball. Press the toothpicks and the smaller ball into the larger ball and hold in there for about 15 seconds to make sure it is secure. Next, glue two edges of the orange triangles together so that they form a beak. Glue the third edges to the smaller tennis ball and hold it there for ten seconds to secure the beak. Glue the red felt piece just above the beak and let it hang down past the length of the ball to form the wattle. Glue the googly eyes to ball on either side to complete the face.
4. Add the feathers to your turkey craft. Gently poke the stems of the feathers into your larger Styrofoam ball. You may create a pattern with the feathers or arrange them in a random array of your liking. You may want to add some crazy glue to the ends before sticking them into the Styrofoam to make sure they remain secure. Continue to add feathers until you are satisfied with the look of your turkey.
Related posts
There are so many ways you can make a turkey craft for Thanksgiving. The best way, however, is to make one out of food--in this case, using a potato and marshmallows. This turkey would make a grea...
At Thanksgiving, there's plenty of reasons to have have some crafts available for the kids to work on. Not only do Thanksgiving crafts make good decorations, but they can also keep little hands bu...
Tin can turkeys make good Thanksgiving decorations as a centerpiece or displayed around other locations in your home. Only a small amount of time and some basic materials are needed to make these...
You can create a Christmas tree using ball ornaments and a Styrofoam cone.Christmas crafts are a popular activity for adults and children alike. Using a Styrofoam cone, some ornaments and some bas...
Let your creativity run wild when choosing colors for your foam parrot.Making a Styrofoam parrot is a fun craft project to share with your kids. You can assemble the parrot from a few simple craft...
