Turkey Coffee Filter Craft

I know it seems like once Halloween passes, you are all ready to jump ahead to Christmas planning. But don’t miss out on a fabulous Thanksgiving craft this season. It’s the perfect side dish to your lesson plans or a weekend activity. Here we have coffee filters and clothespins from the Dollar Store that transform into the cutest Thanksgiving Turkeys ever. And there’s even a little bit of Thanksgiving science involved!

MAKE A COFFEE FILTER TURKEY FOR THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING ACTIVITIES

Get ready to add this simple Thanksgiving turkey craft to your lesson plans this year. If you want to learn more about combining art and science for art and craft projects, let’s grab the supplies. While you’re at it, make sure to check out these other fun easy STEAM activities for kids.

Our Thanksgiving Activities are designed with you, the parent or teacher, in mind! Easy to set up, quick to do, most activities will take only 15 to 30 minutes to complete and are heaps of fun! Plus, our supplies lists usually contain only free or cheap materials you can source from home!

COFFEE FILTER TURKEY CRAFT

Click here to grab the turkey project sheet today!

YOU WILL NEED:

Coffee Filters – Dollar Store
Washable Markers – Dollar Store
Wooden Clothespins – Dollar Store
Craft Foam, Red and Yellow – Dollar Store
Wiggle Eyes – Dollar Store
Craft Paint – Brown
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Scissors
Paintbrush
Spray Mister filled with water
Non-Stick Craft Mat or Large Plastic Zip Top Bag
Cardboard Scrap

HOW TO MAKE A COFFEE FILTER TURKEY

STEP 1. Flatten round coffee filters and apply several colors of washable markers in a variety of patterns.

Hint: Remember to use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, such as red, orange and yellow, so that the colors blend harmoniously.

STEP 2. Place a colored coffee filter on a craft mat or zipper bag and spritz with water to watch the magic! Set aside to dry.

Read on to find out why the colors blend together when you add water.

STEP 3. Clip the clothespins on a scrap of cardboard and paint all sides with brown craft paint and paintbrush. Set aside to dry.

STEP 4. Attach wiggle eyes to the top of each clothes pin using a glue gun with a fine tip applicator.

STEP 5. Cut a triangle beak from yellow craft foam and a squiggly waddle from red craft foam with scissors. Attach under wiggle eyes using a glue gun with fine tip applicator.

STEP 6. Fold the dry coffee filters in half and crinkle slightly to fluff. Insert the coffee filter into the top clip of clothespin.

Create these cute coffee filter turkeys in just about 30 minutes with coloring and cutting help from the kiddos!

You could even add names to the dry turkey feathers with a marker to create personalized Thanksgiving place cards.

QUICK AND SIMPLE SOLUBLE SCIENCE

Why do the colors on your coffee filter turkey blend together? It’s all to do with solubility. If something is soluble that means it will dissolve in that liquid (or solvent). The ink used in these washable markers dissolves in what? The water of course!

In this turkey craft, the water (solvent) is meant to dissolve the marker ink (solute). For this to happen, the molecules in both the water and the ink must be attracted to each other. When you added drops of water to the designs on the paper, the ink should spread out and run through the paper with the water.

Note: Permanent markers do not dissolve in water but in alcohol. You can see this in action here with our tie-dye Valentine cards.

MORE FUN THANKSGIVING ACTIVITIES

MAKE A FABULOUS COFFEE FILTER TURKEY FOR THANKSGIVING

Click on the image below or on the link for cool Thanksgiving science experiments for kids.