Thanksgiving Fun with Turkey in Disguise Ideas

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Do you want a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your kids? If so, these creative turkey in disguise ideas are just the project for you!

turkey in disguise kids activity ideas with clip art picture of turkey dressed up

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There are many ways to celebrate the Thanksgiving season, from learning about the history of the holiday, to practicing gratitude and how to be more thankful, and everything in between. And if you’re looking for a fun, creative project this Thanksgiving, look no further than these turkey in disguise ideas!

It is something that can be done as a classroom or homeschool project, or even as an activity that the whole family can do together. Your child can let their imagination run wild as they try to hide the turkey by giving it a creative disguise!

But before talking about the turkey in disguise ideas, I think it’s helpful to first explain what this project is in case you are not familiar with it.

What is turkey in disguise?

The basic idea of turkey in disguise (sometimes called hide the turkey), is that there is a turkey who does not want to become Thanksgiving dinner, so it is asking for help. Your child can help by using various arts and crafts type materials (crayons, markers, paper, pom poms, fabric, glitter, paint, etc) to make the turkey a disguise, or a costume. This way it won’t get caught and end up as a meal!

To start the activity, you can either draw your own turkey or use a premade turkey shape template (like the one I sell in my Etsy shop). You then decide if you’re going to cut the turkey out or leave it as is on the paper. Next comes the best part – making a disguise!

Your child can be as creative as they want here. They can make the turkey look like an animal, their favorite book or movie character, a chef, a celebrity, a food item…the sky is the limit! It’s a project that is open ended, creative, and meant to have fun with!


And if you want ready made, low prep templates to make this project even easier, check out my turkey in disguise printables on Etsy (it also includes planning pages and writing prompts to extend the learning and fun).

etsy shop listing picture for turkey in disguise ideas kids printable

More turkey activities

Making a disguise for the nervous turkey is probably the best part of this project, but there are other activities that can be done to keep the Thanksgiving fun going!

  • If your child likes to write, then using planning pages, writing prompts, and blank pages to write their own turkey stories would be a great addition to this activity. You can use the picture above to get an idea of what your child could do if you wanted to include writing in this project (premade turkey in disguise templates are also available to purchase if you didn’t want to make your own).

  • Read fun books about turkeys! There are so many good books to read during the autumn (like the ones on my top fall books for kids list!), but it would be especially fun to read about the animal you are making a disguise for!

1. Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano – This is the perfect book to read before you start your turkey in disguise project because it’s all about a turkey who dresses up in different ways to avoid being caught and ending up as the farmer’s meal! A great way to introduce this fun activity.

turkey trouble kids book

2. How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace – A turkey is on the run and the students need to find a way to catch it! This is a fun turkey book that would make a great addition to the project.

kids book about turkeys

3. Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr – A story of a turkey who is trying to run away from the farmer so it does not end up on the Thanksgiving table! Another good book to start off this project with.

run turkey run kids books

Cute turkey in disguise ideas

I’m sure that your child can come up with a bunch of different ways to disguise their own turkey, but if they (or you!) are stuck, then I have some ideas that can help inspire you!

  • For a list of 24 different turkey disguises that you can get ideas from (like a police officer, a cat, a cupcake, and many more!) head over to Sew Woodsy. There you’ll find a list of different materials you can use as well as pictures of different turkey disguises (and they are all super cute!).
  • To see a huge collection of pictures showing how different kids made their turkey’s disguise, check out the Pinterest board for Innovation Kids Lab…the creativity of the kids who did those turkey disguises is amazing!
  • And if you still need ideas for your own turkey, then this list of 47 turkey disguises is sure to help! At Finding Mandee, you’ll see pictures of the many different characters, animals, food, and more that other kids disguised their turkeys as.

For even more fun this fall, be sure to sign up below to get this free fall scavenger hunt game! You’ll also get access to my entire free resource library!

kids fall scavenger hunt printable

I hope that the information in this post, as well as the printables and turkey in disguise ideas was helpful to you. This is a super fun project that I’m sure your kids will enjoy doing this Thanksgiving! Has your child ever made a turkey disguise before?



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