How to Make a Paper Turkey

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.

What to cut before you start

Have every piece ready so the gluing goes quickly:

• Three feather strips, 9 x 2 inches, in red, orange and yellow.
• One 4 x 4 inch square of brown paper, folded in half, for the body.
• One 1 x 1 inch yellow square for the beak.
• One 1 x 2 inch brown piece for the stand. Optional, but it helps him sit flat.
• Two strips about 1/2 x 4 inches for the legs.

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.

Make the tail bigger

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.

Glue stick or white glue?

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.

If the fan keeps spreading

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.

Ideas for the finished turkey

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.