Turkey Tracks Preschool Process Art

10/23/2023

Turkey Tracks Preschool Process Art

Are you looking for a fun Turkey Process Art project to do with your preschoolers this Thanksgiving season? This process art tutorial will have your preschoolers laughing as they pretend to be turkeys trotting through paint.

Process art is a great way to let preschoolers explore materials, without expectations. Each preschooler will create something unique. Preschoolers love to paint, and when they try out new materials, it sparks an undeniable interest and builds up the excitement. And it helps preschoolers understand that art materials can be recycled, reused, and repurposed from so many different items. Try out this art activity during your Thanksgiving and Turkeys unit. All you need is a few supplies making this a super easy set-up.

Materials:

This fun activity is one of 200 hands on preschool activities featured in our Pre-K Play Ideas eBook! Purchase our eBook to have all of these activity pages at your fingertips.

You will need:

Yellow paper or any chosen color works
Scissors
Assorted straws
Tray
Brown paint

*I would suggest having preschoolers watch you cut the straw to resemble the feet. However, depending on how skilled your preschoolers are with scissors this might be a step that they just watch instead of participate in.

Tutorial:

Begin by bending the straw in half and cutting two slits on the end to make 3 pieces –to resemble a turkey foot. You may have to bend the cut pieces at the end of the slit so they will lay flat.

After you have cut the slits, invite your preschoolers to help them bend the straws to lay flat. A great way to encourage fine-motor work while also providing them with a sense of ownership in the process.

Pour a thin layer of brown paint onto your tray or plate. Then dip the foot section of the straw into the paint. We found these small foil tins that work perfectly but any time of tray works.

Next have preschoolers press the straw on the paper to create tracks. Remind them they don't need to add a ton of force or the straw will bend. Your students can make designs such as letters or shapes or just make the pattern their turkey traveled!
* Use different size straws to create assorted-sized footprints.

The best part about this art activity is there are no rules, if preschoolers want different colors or different sizes, let them explore. This would also be a great activity to do on a large piece of butcher paper as a collaborative project. It's a great way to explore with new materials for some Thanksgiving fun.

Buy the eBook!

Save time planning your hands on preschool activities! Find detailed directions for this activity + 199 more in our Pre-K Play Ideas eBook! Print each activity page, or access them digitally!