The turkey is the star of Thanksgving, and these fine motor playdough turkeys are a fun way to keep the kids entertained this holiday season.
Now, I know that my playdough turkey doesn’t look anything like the real thing.
But the goal of this playdough activity isn’t realism, it’s entertainment!
We want our turkeys to look cute, silly, and most of all, I want the kids to just have fun. To express themselves with art.
We want our kids to have so much fun, they forget all about Mom and Dad frantically trying to prep the house or a nice Thanksgiving dinner, and just play and create.
I sure hope these playdough turkeys will make our Thanksgiving easier by entertaining the kids all day!
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How to Set Up a Playdough Turkey Creation Station
I used our apple cinnamon playdough (5 weeks old and going strong!) for this Thanksgiving playdough turkey invitation to play.
It’s tan-colored and smells so good from all the cinnamon in it.
I put a ball of this dough on a tray along with a smaller tray of colorful feathers, googly eyes, and yellow triangles cut out of construction papers to use as the beaks.
You can cut out the little hanging red thing that turkeys have out of red construction paper if you really want to be “authentic.” I didn’t because I was too lazy to and I didn’t think my kid would notice.
Just being honest.
Our Thanksgiving Turkeys
First, I pulled out the only book we have that shows a turkey, and Elena and I talked about what turkeys look like. She noticed that they have feathers and are black and white.
I told her we were going to make our own turkeys out of playdough, and thankfully, she didn’t call me out on having multi-colored feathers instead of black and white turkey feathers.
I never said these turkeys would be realistic.
To make a playdough turkey, Elena rolled two balls of dough and stacked them.
Next, she put eyes and a beak on the ball of dough to be used as the turkey’s head.
And then, the fun part, adding feathers!
She used all the feathers we had for her turkey. I wish I’d had more feathers so we could make multiple turkeys. Once one was made, it couldn’t be unmade, so the activity was basically over once all the feathers were gone.
When you do this at home, make sure you get LOTS of feathers!
What We’re Learning
Playing with playdough is fantastic for strengthening fine motor muscles in the hands. Fine motor muscles are essential for being able to grip a pencil properly or use scissors.
Playdough is also perfect for letting kids’ imaginations run wild, as they sculpt and create whatever they see in their minds.
We absolutely love using playdough at home, and making it is cheap and easy. If you missed it earlier, here is the recipe for our apple cinnamon playdough.
I love how smooth the playdough is and how it doesn’t dry out as fast as storebought playdough.
BTW, I recently learned that if your playdough has dried out, you can wrap it in a damp paper towel overnight, and it should be good as new the next day.
I haven’t tried it personally, as I’ve already thrown out all of our dried out playdough, but if you try it and it works, let me know!
Your Turn to Make Thanksgiving Playdough Turkeys
This little playdough activity can be set up at the kids’ table for turkey play all day long. Be sure to include plenty of each material so multiple turkeys can be made.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!