Disguise a Turkey Ideas: 40 Easy Costumes and a How-To
By the Clipart Scout team8 min read
Short answer
Disguise a turkey is a school project where a child decorates a paper turkey so it looks like something else and can hide from Thanksgiving dinner. Easy ideas use things from around the house: an astronaut helmet from foil, a pizza slice from paper, a cactus from green card. This guide gives 40 ideas and a step-by-step how-to.
Key points
- The project is simple: turn a paper turkey into something else so it can hide, then write a short note on why.
- Forty ideas are listed with materials and a difficulty rating, from easy to harder.
- Most disguises can be made from paper, glue, crayons and things from a recycling bin.
- Let your child choose the idea and do the work. Your job is to hold, cut when asked and ask questions.
- A short paragraph on why the turkey is hiding makes the project feel finished.
On this page
Your child has come home with a paper turkey and a letter that says “disguise it.” Nothing else, perhaps. The deadline may be next week, and you are standing in the kitchen wondering what to make from a cereal box.
Disguise a turkey is a school project at Thanksgiving. A child decorates a paper turkey to look like something else so that it can hide from the dinner table, and often writes a few lines about why it is hiding. This guide gives you forty easy ideas in a table, a step-by-step how-to, a materials list and help with the writing.
What is the disguise a turkey project?
The project asks a child to transform a paper turkey into a person, animal or object. The turkey “disguises” itself so nobody will pick it for dinner. It is a small art and writing task that most children finish in one or two evenings.
Teachers set it as a way to let children use imagination and talk to families. Rules differ: some schools want a flat turkey, some a standing one, and some ask for a short story. Read your child’s letter before you start and follow it.
What are easy disguise a turkey ideas?
Easy ideas use a simple shape, a few colors and supplies you already own. The table below lists forty. “Easy” means a child can finish most of it alone in about 30 minutes, “medium” needs a little help with cutting or folding and “harder” has several parts or a standing piece.
| # | Idea | Main materials | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Astronaut | Foil for helmet and suit, white paper, markers | Medium |
| 2 | Firefighter | Red paper hat, yellow paper coat, a strip of gray hose | Easy |
| 3 | Ballerina | Tissue paper tutu, pink ribbon, glitter glue | Medium |
| 4 | Snowman | White paper circles, cotton balls, orange paper nose | Easy |
| 5 | Cactus | Green card, black marker spines, a small paper pot | Easy |
| 6 | Pizza slice | Yellow and red paper, brown crust, paper pepperoni | Easy |
| 7 | Rainbow | Colored paper strips in arcs, cotton ball clouds | Easy |
| 8 | Soccer player | Paper shirt with a number, black and white ball | Easy |
| 9 | Chef | White paper hat, paper apron, craft stick spoon | Easy |
| 10 | Scarecrow | Straw or yellow yarn, patch fabric, hat from brown card | Medium |
| 11 | Pumpkin | Orange card, green paper stem, black face | Easy |
| 12 | Pirate | Black paper patch, striped shirt, bandana from scrap cloth | Easy |
| 13 | Knight | Foil armor, card shield, craft stick sword | Medium |
| 14 | Wizard | Blue card hat, paper stars, cotton beard | Medium |
| 15 | Robot | Small boxes or foil squares, bottle caps, wire or pipe cleaners | Harder |
| 16 | Doctor | White coat, paper stethoscope from yarn, small red cross | Easy |
| 17 | Farmer | Straw hat from paper, checked shirt, overalls from blue paper | Easy |
| 18 | Painter | Paper beret, paint palette from card, tiny brushes | Easy |
| 19 | Teacher | Paper glasses, a pointer from a craft stick, a tiny book | Easy |
| 20 | Pilot | Card goggles, scarf from tissue, wings from card | Medium |
| 21 | Beekeeper | Net hat from netting or tissue, yellow and black stripes | Medium |
| 22 | Ice cream cone | Brown waffle-pattern card, pom-pom scoops | Easy |
| 23 | Taco | Folded paper shell, green tissue lettuce, brown crumbs | Medium |
| 24 | Apple | Red card, green paper leaf, brown stem | Easy |
| 25 | Library book | Two covers from card, paper pages, a title label | Medium |
| 26 | Mail carrier | Blue paper cap, small bag, tiny paper letters | Easy |
| 27 | Builder | Yellow card hard hat, paper tool belt, craft stick ruler | Easy |
| 28 | Lion | Brown yarn mane, orange card ears, whiskers from straws | Medium |
| 29 | Penguin | Black and white paper, orange beak and feet | Easy |
| 30 | Zebra | White card, black stripes, black yarn mane | Easy |
| 31 | Owl | Brown card, big paper eyes, feather pattern from paper strips | Easy |
| 32 | Dinosaur | Green card spikes, long tail, felt-tip spots | Medium |
| 33 | Christmas tree | Green card cone, paper ornaments, star on top | Easy |
| 34 | Mummy | Gauze or strips of white paper, two googly eyes | Easy |
| 35 | Mermaid | Shiny paper scales, shell from card, long yarn hair | Medium |
| 36 | Guitar player | Card guitar, sunglasses from black paper, scarf | Easy |
| 37 | Cowboy | Brown card hat, bandana, paper star badge | Easy |
| 38 | Bumblebee | Yellow and black stripes, tissue wings, pipe cleaner antennae | Easy |
| 39 | Sunflower | Yellow paper petals, brown circle center, green stem | Easy |
| 40 | Detective | Magnifying glass from card, paper coat and hat | Easy |
Tip: Let your child choose from the table, then ask, “What would the turkey wear?” Their answer is often better than the one you were about to suggest.
What materials do you need to disguise a turkey?
You need only a paper turkey, glue, scissors and something to color with, plus whatever is in your recycling bin. Gather everything on one tray before you begin, so you are not stopping to hunt for tape.
Here is a materials list from around the house:
If your child’s school gives rules about size or shape, check them before you use up the card.
How do you disguise a turkey step by step?
Work in five short steps: choose the idea, plan the outfit, build the pieces, attach them and add the details. Each step takes about ten minutes, so you can stop whenever your child gets tired.
- Choose the idea. Read the list together or look around the house. Ask what your child loves or what they would like to be.
- Plan on paper. Draw the turkey and lightly sketch where the hat, clothes and props will go. Notice which parts of the turkey must stay visible, such as the face.
- Make the pieces. Cut or fold each part separately: a hat, a shirt, a tool. Make them slightly bigger than you think, since they are easier to trim than to stretch.
- Glue in layers. Start with the biggest piece, usually the body outfit, and add smaller pieces on top. Let each piece dry for a minute before adding the next.
- Add details. Eyes, buttons, patterns and a name tag finish the job. Stand back and ask your child if the turkey is hidden well enough.
Fix problems with questions: “Could the feathers be part of the costume?” turns a gap into a design.
How do you write the “why my turkey is hiding” paragraph?
A short hiding paragraph has three parts: the disguise, the reason and a surprise at the end. Three to five sentences are enough for most children, and a younger child can say it aloud while you write.
Ask your child these questions and write down what they say:
- What is your turkey pretending to be?
- Why did it choose that disguise?
- Where is it going to hide?
- What does it hope will happen on Thanksgiving?
Here is an example for a pizza slice turkey: “My turkey is hiding as a pizza slice. He knows nobody eats pizza on Thanksgiving. He is sitting in the middle of the pizza box with extra cheese. He hopes everyone will eat pie and forget about him.”
Let your child’s own words stay, even if the grammar is not perfect.
What are the best tips for young children?
For a child under six, shrink the job: choose one of the easy ideas, cut the pieces yourself when asked and let them do the gluing and coloring. Three or four pieces are plenty.
Work in short sessions at a table with a wipe-clean cover. Let a young child glue in the “wrong” place; a turkey with a hat on its tail is funnier than a perfect one. Put the finished turkey in a safe place to dry flat, and take a photo of your child with it before it goes to school.
If your child likes coloring more than cutting, a ready-printed turkey outfit to color and glue can save you time. The Disguise a Turkey Printable Mega Bundle has 587 pages in 13 sections. It includes 12 blank turkey templates, 45 job disguises to color, 90 more disguises to color (sports, animals, food and story roles) and 50 cut-and-glue costume sets sized for the big blank turkey. There are 30 turkey writing pages, a materials checklist and a page of simple steps for the project.
What to do next
- Read the teacher’s letter and note the deadline, size rules and whether a writing part is required.
- Look through the table with your child and pick two or three ideas. Let them choose the final one.
- Gather materials from the list on one tray, and set aside two short sessions this week.
- Browse our holiday and seasonal printables or our coloring pages if you want printed turkeys and costumes to color.
- After the project, try some Thanksgiving games for family at dinner, and keep our Christmas party games for families in mind for December.
