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You are here: Home / Crafts and Celebrations / Coffee Filter Turkey Activity

By Kristen 20 Comments

Coffee Filter Turkey Activity

Coffee Filter Turkeys:  Time to plan a November Thanksgiving Project.  I started making these Tie-Dye turkeys 20 years ago (gasp!)  I’ve been playing with all the different ways you can dye coffee filters and have even made peacocks.

Did you see the fabulous fruit turkey my friend Charlene made?  That turkey is out of fruit, but this coffee filter turkey is a colorful craft!  This makes a great preschool turkey craft!

Coffee Filter turkey

Coffee Filter Turkey Craft

 You Will Need:

  • Coffee Filters (click here)
  • Crayola Markers
  • Paper scraps of brown, orange, red and black
  • Hole punch – for eyes (or just use a crayon)
  • Rubber Gloves (only if you’re doing a lot – the ink can stain your hands)
Turkey craft

Click here for Coloring Tips

tie-dye-feathers

How To Make Your Turkey:

Step 1

Color your coffee filter.  You can color it in blotches, stripes, or patterns.  You only need to color half of it because all of the colors will blend together.  See a variety of different ways to color coffee filters and their final outcome.

Step 1: Tie Dye Turkey for Thanksgiving - Coffee Filter Art

Step 2

Lay out your newspaper and put on your gloves.

Step 2: Tie Dyed Coffee Filters - Coffee Filter Art

Step 3

Fold your filter in half and half again, until it looks like a piece of pie.

Step 3: Tie Dyed Coffee Filters - Coffee Filter Art

Step 4

Parent / Teacher supervision for this part:  Turn on your water faucet.  Just the tip of the coffee filter needs to get wet.  The water will absorb through the end.

Step 4 : Secret tip to tie-dyed coffee filters

Step 5

Squeeze your fingers over the filter so that the water spreads to the end.  The colors will merge together nicely.  If they don’t, try again!  Light colors in the middle, spreading out to dark colors look really cool (below).
Tie Dyed Coffee Filter Turkeys - Coffee Filter Art

Step 6

Let the filters air dry while the kids get busy making the turkey body.

Tie Dyed Coffee Filter Turkeys

Step 7

Our turkey body is the shape of a bowling pin and about the size of your hand.  For the classroom, I made a cardboard turkey body template for the kids to trace.  For my own children, I hand drew the outline of the turkey body.

The bodies to a Tie Dyed Coffee Filter Turkeys

Step 8

Add a little triangle orange beak, a red squiggly waddle, punch out two black circles for the eyes, and use scraps to make some feet.  Now glue the dried coffee filter to the back of the body, now you have your own Coffee Filter Turkey!

Tie Dyed Coffee Filter Turkeys

Coffee Filter Turkeys….they make great Thanksgiving decorations and sun catchers too!

Other Fun Art & Craft Activities For Kids:

  • Coffee Filter Art Made Simple
  • Tie-Dye Peacock Craft
  • Snow Globe Paper Craft
  • How To Draw A Reindeer
  • How To Draw A Polar Bear
  • How To Make A Popup Card 
  • Sign Language I Love You Card 
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Filed Under: Crafts and Celebrations Tagged With: Thanksgiving Craft, Turkey Tie Dye craft

About Kristen

Kristen is an Elementary Reading Specialist. She is the owner / author behind Busy Kids Happy Mom, a site dedicated to fun, practical, and purposeful activities to do with your kids. Follow Kristen on Facebook, Pinterest, and subscribe for updates.

What People Are Saying

  1. Rachel Tiller says

    at 11:05 am

    Very cute idea! Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Alexis says

    at 4:42 pm

    I assume you used washable markers, right?

    Reply
  3. Kristen @ Busy Kids = Happy Mom says

    at 7:44 pm

    Alexis – thanks for asking! Our markers are actually not washable, that’s probably why our fingers looked dyed! Washable would probably be great too.

    Reply
  4. Midge says

    at 9:33 pm

    This is perfect for my first graders! I will have them trace their shoe for the turkey’s body. Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Kristen @ Busy Kids = Happy Mom says

    at 9:49 pm

    Yeah Midge! I made them for years when I taught first grade. Wear gloves or else you’ll look a little colorful by the end of the day!

    Reply
  6. Becky says

    at 3:59 pm

    This is such a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Becky says

    at 4:00 pm

    This is such a cute idea! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  8. Stephanie @ Toastie Studio says

    at 4:03 am

    Hi, I wanted to let you know I featured this on the EtsyKids Team blog along with 50 other Thanksgiving crafts, recipes and printables for kids.
    http://etsykids.blogspot.com/2012/11/50-thanksgiving-crafts-recipes-and.html

    Reply
  9. jjking says

    at 4:43 pm

    I let my first graders spritz their filter with water bottle! Leave on paper plate to dry!

    Reply
  10. Deborah says

    at 10:25 am

    I love how you dipped them in the water – this makes for such a fun process and beautiful turkey too!

    Reply
  11. SJ Neal says

    at 9:42 pm

    Thanks for this craft! It was mega fun and super cute! We used markers in shades of brown for the body on white paper. We wet the body and the colors blended, so it looks 3-D. Fun project!

    Reply
  12. Kay Phoebe says

    at 11:20 pm

    Thank you for this creative idea! I am excited to do this craft with my class!

    Reply
  13. Samantha Malak says

    at 6:52 pm

    About how long do you think it would take for them to try? I will be doing this with a group of my patients for the holiday as part of a holiday event. It will be set up in stations and they only get about 5-7 minutes per station.

    Reply
    • Kristen says

      at 8:38 pm

      Hi Samantha – I usually let them dry for at least an hour on newspaper. Could they be made ahead of time and then at the stations put them together – make the bodies, add legs, eyes, and glue the feathers. Just a thought!

      Reply
      • Samantha Malak says

        at 8:41 pm

        That is a great idea! Thank you!

        Reply
        • Kristen says

          at 8:57 pm

          Thanks for responding Samantha. Turn them over and use dry newspaper to help them dry a little faster. If you do them a day early, they can actually be stacked on top of one another. One more tip… write names on with a ballpoint pen BEFORE you do the dying / water process.

          Reply

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