We have been reading Turkey Trouble and playing with our cardboard turkey and disguises! It is such a fun time! Make the turkey and disguises too!
November is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the family gathering and feasting together. I love the food and the reminder to be thankful for the little things.
My mind is not ready to start thinking about turkey. The year just went by way too fast. But, it’s time to start thinking about turkey. So, we are starting the month off with a book called Turkey Trouble.
I love that the book has some repetition in it, so that it’s easier to retell. By kindergarten, children will be asked to retell the main points of a story.
So, my friend Beth (from Days with Grey) and I have been teaming up each month to provide a book and a craft/activity that you can do with your kiddos to help prepare them for story retelling.
They absolutely don’t have to master the skill now. But, introducing them to the idea is a great way for them to have a great kindergarten year.
You can see a couple of our past Book Box Story Retells here: Room on The Broom, Dragons Love Tacos, The Watermelon Seed.
But, back to Turkey Trouble. If you’re kiddo isn’t ready to put away the costumes (what kid is? My kiddos dress up all year long), then he will love this book. It’s about a turkey who is trying to hide from the farmer on Thanksgiving Day. And the only solution he can come up with is to disguise himself as the different animals on the farm. It’s so silly and the disguises are humorously awful. Will the disguises work? You will just have to read the book to find out.
My son and daughter love it. We make animal noises and giggle about the things Turkey uses to make costumes.
I thought a turkey disguise craft would go along with the book. My kiddos can change the disguises as I read the book to them. I hope you enjoy it too!
Turkey Trouble – Turkey Materials
- cardboard
- construction paper (orange and yellow)
- black permanent marker
- pencil
- scissors
- tape
- glue stick
Turkey Trouble – Turkey Instructions
Step One. Cut a small rectangle out of cardboard. I used a piece of a flap from a diaper box.
Step Two. Trace your kiddo’s hand on orange and yellow construction paper. Cut it out. Tape them to the back of the cardboard. Just tape the bottom. You want the “feathers” to be able to move out of the way for some of the disguises.
Step Three. Cut a corner off the orange paper to make a triangle. This will be the beak. Glue it to front of the cardboard toward the bottom.
Step Four. Draw two dots for eyes and worried eyebrows with black marker. Voila! You have a turkey!
Turkey Trouble – Horse Materials
- twine
- clothes pin
- hot glue and gun
- scissors
Turkey Trouble – Horse Instructions
Step One. Cut 1.5 inch to 2 inch strips of twine (I cut about 16).
Step Two. Hot glue them to the clothes pin. You have horse hair to clip on the turkey!
Turkey Trouble – Cow Materials
- white envelope
- black permanent marker
- scissors
- tape
Turkey Trouble – Cow Instructions
Step One. Cut the flap off the envelope and stick the turkey in it to see where you need to cut the envelope. You want it to slide in and out easily. I cut it about an 1-1.5 inches high and slightly longer than the width of the turkey.
Step Two. Tape the open side closed. Leave the top open.
Step Three. Draw cow spots on it with the marker. You have your cow disguise!
Turkey Trouble – Pig Materials
- rubber band
- pink construction paper
- black permanent marker
- tape
- scissors
Turkey Trouble – Pig Instructions
Step One. Cut a circle out of the pink paper. Draw two dots in the middle with the marker to make it look like a pig snout.
Step Two. Tape it to the rubber band. You have the pig disguise!
Turkey Trouble – Sheep Materials
- cotton balls (6)
- clothes pin (2)
- hot glue and gun
Turkey Trouble – Sheep Instructions
Step One. Hot glue 3 cotton balls on each clothes pin. You can clip them on the turkey. You have the sheep disguise!
Turkey Trouble – Rooster Materials
- red glove (child-sized)
Turkey Trouble – Rooster Instructions
Step One. Slide the glove on the turkey’s head and you have the rooster disguise!
Turkey Trouble – Pizza Guy Materials
- white cardstock
- red marker
- brown marker
- clothes pin
- hot glue and gun
- scissors
Turkey Trouble – Pizza Guy Instructions
Step One. Cut two triangles out of the white cardstock.
Step Two. Color brown crust, pepperonis and sauce on them.
Step Three. Hot glue the two slices of pepperoni pizza onto the clothes pin. You can clip it on the turkey to have the pizza guy disguise!
You can now have your kiddo disguise the turkey as you read the book to him! I set the disguises in a box for my son to grab and play with. He ended up putting as many disguises as he could on the turkey. The farmer won’t find him now. LOL!
For more Turkey Trouble fun, Beth from Days with Grey made a Roll-the-Turkey Game. She drew up the animals on large paper and has a feathered ball to roll. It looks so fun!
Ashley from Veggies and Virtue had her kiddos build a turkey out of fruit and veggies! My kiddos are going to love making their snacks look like turkeys!
Mandisa from Happy Toddler Playtime made disguises too! If you have extra cardboard tubes hanging around, this is a perfect craft!
Tag us in a pic on Instagram when you try out the fun activities! @themamaworkshop, @dayswithgrey, @veggiesandvirtue and @happytoddlerplaytime
Do you mind if I use your Turkey Trouble disguise ideas as a Clover Kids activity for our group in November? We have a group of 14 kids in Iowa.
Oh I hope you used the ideas and had so much fun!
Amazing idea!
Thank you!