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This paper turkey has a real fan tail. Three accordion-folded strips of red, orange and yellow nest inside each other and spread into a full feather fan, and a little brown body slots into the middle. It stands up on a table by itself, or you can pin it to a wall. The design is by Light Skull, who makes these with a whole classroom every November.
The one piece you print is the turkey body. Light Skull shares a free template on Google Drive, linked in the video description, in a right-handed and a left-handed version. Pick whichever is more comfortable to cut. Teachers can trace the template onto a piece of thin card, like a cereal box, and use that to draw bodies for every student.
Have every piece ready so the gluing goes quickly:
Plain construction paper works. Anything heavier fights the accordion folds, and thin printer paper goes floppy once the fan is open. No brown paper? Color a printed template with a brown crayon or marker.
Light Skull says his tail ends up a little small with 9 inch strips. Cut them 12 inches long and you get a fuller, rounder fan that frames the body better. The fold size is up to you. Narrow folds give a fine, feathery fan. Wide folds are faster and easier for small hands.
You can make the whole turkey with a glue stick. White school glue is better in two places: joining the three accordion strips, and holding the base of the fan closed. Those joints take strain as the fan opens, and white glue grips the folds harder. Give it a few minutes to dry before you fan the tail out.
This is the most common problem. The pleats at the bottom want to spring open. Put a small drop of white glue between each pleat at the base, squeeze them together and hold for a moment. Do the back as well if it still spreads. A clothespin clipped on while it dries does the holding for you.
Uneven feathers usually mean the strips were glued on crooked. Line them up so the gap is the same at both ends before you press down.
Set one at each place on the Thanksgiving table and write a name on the body, or line a few down the middle next to a Thanksgiving centerpiece. In a classroom, tack them to a bulletin board through the middle of the tail. Kids can write something they are thankful for on each feather before folding.
If you like the accordion folding, the same technique makes a paper fan. For more fall decor, try a fall wreath, paper mache pumpkins, or pressed fall leaves to scatter round your turkeys.
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Make a 3D construction paper turkey that stands on its own. An easy project: about 40 minutes. Materials cost about $3 to $6. You need 10 things, including red construction paper, orange construction paper and yellow construction paper. The 10 steps start with cut Out the Paper Turkey Body From Folded Brown Construction Paper, cut a Slit in the Turkey Body Notch So It Stands Up and glue the Two Halves of the Paper Turkey Body Together.
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Fold the 4 inch brown square in half so it is 2 x 4 inches. Trace the body from the free template with the flat edge on the fold, then cut along the line through both layers. When you open it up, you get a horseshoe shape: two matching halves of the turkey joined at the bottom.
Keep the flat side of the template right on the fold. If you cut the fold away, the two halves fall apart.
Fold the little notch at the bottom of the body so it sits flat. Slice a short slit into it between the two layers with a craft knife. It opens into a small T, and that T is what lets the turkey stand on the table. Work on a cutting mat so the blade does not mark the table underneath.
With kids, an adult should do this cut. Small scissors work if you do not want a blade near the class.
Open the body out flat. Rub a glue stick over one half, stopping short of the notch at the bottom so the stand can still open. Close it up and press the two halves together. Now you have one solid turkey shape, a head and body with a split base.
Glue right up to the edges. Loose edges peel apart when you slide the body into the fan later.
Fold the 1 inch yellow square corner to corner into a triangle. If your square is not quite square, that is fine. Snip off one corner so the beak can sit closer to the face. That snipped triangle is your beak. Crease the center fold hard with a fingernail, because the beak opens along it in the next step.
Orange paper works as well for the beak if you want it to stand out against the yellow feathers.
Open the beak up. It looks a bit like a Superman symbol. Put glue stick on the two inside flaps and press it over the front of the turkey head. Then glue the small brown stand piece to the base, glue on its two sides only. Test it. He should sit up and lean back a little.
The lean is what you want. The tail goes behind him and balances it out.
Stack the three feather strips. Make a small fold across one end, flip the stack over, and fold back the other way. Keep flipping and folding until you reach the end. Folding them together means every strip has the same pleats, so they nest neatly inside each other. Press each crease flat before the next one.
Hold down the edges as you go. If one strip starts to creep, your pleats will not line up.
Open the strips out. Run white glue along the edge of one strip and overlap the next one onto it, pleat into pleat. Overlap more than you think, and add a dot of glue at each end. Check that the gap is even from end to end before you press it flat, then let it dry.
If the strips start to curve, lift and adjust while the glue is wet. Straight strips make an even fan.
Fold the two thin leg strips into small accordions. They do not need to be neat. Dab a little glue stick onto the top of each leg and press it to the bottom of the body, as close as you can. Angle both legs out a little so the feet make a small V.
Pull your finger away as you lift the glue stick. You get a tiny dab, which is all a paper leg needs.
Fold the dry strips back into an accordion, yellow side toward you. Squeeze the bottom and press the middle pleats so the top fans out. Put glue on both flat sides of the body, find the middle pleat of the fan, and pinch the fan closed round the turkey. Hold it for a few seconds while the glue grabs.
Put the yellow edge at the bottom if you want more yellow showing. The order of the colors is up to you.
If the fan is spreading too much, put a small drop of white glue between each pleat at the bottom and squeeze them together. Do the back as well if you need to. Hold it for a moment and your turkey is done. Stand him on the table or pin him up.
A clothespin clipped over the base holds it while the glue dries.
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How to Make a Paper Turkey
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
Gorilla
Gorilla Dual-Temp Full-Size Hot Glue Gun
Dual-temp so it handles delicate florals and heavy materials alike. A precise nozzle and built-in stand make it the everyday craft-table gun.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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Question 1 of 5
How is the fan tail made?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.How is the fan tail made?
Answer: Accordion strips nested together
Three pleated strips in red, orange and yellow spread into one fan.
2.The fan keeps springing open. What fixes it?
Answer: Glue between pleats at the base
A drop of white glue in each pleat holds the bottom closed.
3.What do 12 inch strips give you over 9 inch strips?
Answer: A fuller, rounder tail fan
Longer strips make more pleats, so the fan frames the body better.
4.Where is white glue better than a glue stick?
Answer: Joining strips and the fan base
Those joints take strain as the fan opens, and white glue grips harder.
5.Why avoid heavy card for the feather strips?
Answer: It fights the accordion folds
Plain construction paper pleats easily and still holds its shape.
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