Disguise a Turkey Project (Free Printable Templates + Ideas)

Sharing is caring!

This disguise a turkey project makes Thanksgiving crafting easy: choose a costume, color the pieces, and help your turkey hide from the dinner table. The free printable set includes eight costumes in precolored and black-and-white versions, plus two blank turkey templates for your own ideas.

Choose from a cow, police officer, firefighter, football player, witch, soldier, astronaut, or superhero. You’ll find the signup box for the free printables near the bottom of this post.

These cut-and-paste costumes work well for a classroom project or an afternoon at home. Younger kids may need help cutting out the smaller pieces.

Planning a week of Thanksgiving crafts? Browse our turkey crafts for kids for more projects to make together.

Find more Thanksgiving printables and activities, including our thankful turkey printable and turkey coloring pages.

What is the Disguise a Turkey project?

Disguise a turkey is a school or family craft project where kids give a paper turkey a costume so it can hide from Thanksgiving dinner.

Kids can turn their turkey into an animal, a community helper, a favorite character, or something completely made up.

The goal is to make the turkey look like something else. There is no single right answer, so let kids choose the disguise and add their own details.

Use a ready-made costume for a quick activity, or start with a blank turkey and scraps of colored paper for a more open-ended project.

Pair the activity with a read-aloud of Turkey Trouble, then ask kids what disguise they would choose for their own turkey.

After crafting, have each child finish the sentence, “I am not a turkey. I am a…” Younger children can dictate their answer while an adult writes it down.

Benefits of the Project

• Creativity: Kids choose colors, combine materials, and add details to make each disguise their own.
• Fine Motor Practice: Coloring, cutting, and gluing give kids a chance to practice using their hands. Help with small pieces as needed.
• Storytelling: Ask kids to name their disguised turkey and tell a short story about where it is hiding.
• Planning: Arranging the costume pieces before gluing lets kids try different positions and decide what works.

Our Disguise a Turkey Printables

Our printable costumes give kids a starting point without needing to draw every piece from scratch.

The eight costume choices are shown below. Each one comes in a precolored version and a black-and-white version, so you can choose how much coloring to include.

The set also includes two blank turkey templates for kids who want to design their own disguise.

Print only the pages you need. The precolored costumes are handy when time is short; the black-and-white pages let kids choose their own colors.

Cow Turkey: Transform your turkey to ‘moo-ve’ away from prying eyes.

Police Officer Turkey: Always on duty to ensure a peaceful festive season.

Firefighter Turkey: Fire alarms won’t reveal this turkey’s whereabouts!

Football Player Turkey: Dodging the defense and the dinner table.

Witch Turkey: This turkey’s potions ensure it remains unseen.

Soldier Turkey: Make a camouflage turkey disguise by coloring the outfit with patches of green, brown, and tan. Try different shapes and sizes for the camo pattern.

Astronaut Turkey: Color the spacesuit, then glue your finished astronaut turkey onto dark construction paper. Add stars or draw a planet to create a space scene.

Superhero Turkey: Pick a color scheme and invent a superhero name. Kids can draw their own symbol on the costume and decide what special power helps their turkey escape.

Blank Disguise a Turkey Template

Want to create a different disguise? Use either of the two blank turkey templates and add a costume with crayons, markers, or paper scraps. Lay out any paper pieces before gluing so you can check how they fit.

How to Use the Printables

• Download and Print: Use the signup box below to get the printable set by email. Choose a turkey and costume, then print the matching pages at the same scale. Check the print preview so no edges are cut off.
• Gather Materials: You will need printer paper or cardstock, crayons or markers, scissors, and a glue stick. Colored paper and stickers are optional. Cardstock gives the finished turkey a sturdier base.
• Color and Cut: Color the black-and-white pages before cutting, or use the precolored version. Cut out the turkey and costume pieces, helping younger kids with small shapes.
• Arrange, Glue, and Display: Place the costume pieces over the turkey and adjust them before gluing. Attach the pieces with a thin layer of glue and let everything dry flat. Add a name or a short disguise story before displaying it.

More Ideas for your Disguise a Turkey Project

Here are some extension ideas to add in with your turkey project!

Themed Storytime

Choose a read-aloud that matches the costume your child picked. Here are a few book pairings to get you started:

Firefighter Turkey: Read about the tools and clothing firefighters use, then see which details kids can spot in their costume.

Try “Fire Truck!” by Ivan Ulz or “Firefighters A to Z” by Chris L. Demarest.

Cow Turkey: Pair this disguise with “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” by Doreen Cronin or “The Cow Who Clucked” by Denise Fleming.

Astronaut Turkey: Try “There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System” by Tish Rabe or “The Darkest Dark” by Chris Hadfield.

Ask kids where their astronaut turkey would travel and what it would pack for the trip.

Superhero Turkey: Talk about how a superhero might help someone, then let kids invent a helpful power for their turkey.

For a matching read-aloud, try “Superhero ABC” by Bob McLeod or “Even Superheroes Have Bad Days” by Shelly Becker.

Group Activity

Turkey Parade: Let each child show their turkey and explain its disguise. Display the finished projects together with the sentence “I am not a turkey!” and each child’s answer underneath.

Extension Activities

Astronaut Adventure: Draw a planet or space station for the astronaut turkey to visit.

Older kids can write a few sentences about the trip. Younger kids can tell the story aloud or draw what happens next.

Cow Turkey on the Farm: Draw a barnyard where the cow turkey can hide among other animals.

Ask kids which animals might notice the visitor and how the turkey could convince them it belongs there.

Superhero Story: Give the turkey a name and one problem to solve using its special power.

Kids can also choose a real community helper, such as a firefighter or doctor, and explain how that person helps others.

Keep the extra activities optional. For a short craft session, choosing and assembling a costume is plenty.

Want to try the same idea at Christmas? Our disguise a reindeer project has more printable costumes to decorate.

Grab the Free Printables

Already a subscriber? You can use the form below to request this printable too.

Put your name and email in the pink box below, and we’ll send the free turkey disguise printables straight to your inbox.

The set includes eight costumes in precolored and black-and-white versions, plus two blank turkey templates.

Print as many copies as you need for personal or classroom use. These printables are not for commercial use or resale.

Which is your favorite turkey disguise?