Timeless in its simplicity, few elementary school traditions combine arts and crafts with social studies quite like the hand turkey. You made them, your parents probably made them, and, if you're a K-12 administrator or educator, kids are probably making them in your school right now.
The beauty of the activity is that it can be done in varying degrees of complexity, from a simple decorated hand sketch to a collage, and performed by students on their own or as a class-wide project. We scoured Twitter and found the following examples that illustrate the perfect combination of ease and flexibility that have made hand turkeys a classroom staple. As you'll see below, at least one innovative middle school teacher has found a way to incorporate tech, as well.
For reference, the basic hand turkey
did clay seriously make a hand turkey pic.twitter.com/whedAI4d2u
— cheyenne kardashian (@cheyennecurrry) November 21, 2014
Shapes and sizes may vary, so all are unique
When you have the biggest hand turkey in the class and it barely fits on the page pic.twitter.com/PLuL6Z3cP4
— Hannah (@CallisonHannah) November 21, 2014
Of course, there's always that one kid in every class
we made hand turkeys in math pic.twitter.com/uiKGpD8tEZ
— cath (@yuungtac0kid) November 3, 2015
A lot of people never really outgrow them
@MegNTaylor1 I made a hand turkey when the teacher wasn't looking, it just didn't feel right not to. pic.twitter.com/flNgfpmakw
— AMBAM (@AmbrianaR) November 21, 2014
It's often not even as simple as drawing the turkey itself
Hand turkey pic.twitter.com/wnE5pEXsuW
— Mac (@maceybrown1998) November 21, 2014
The cut-and-paste hand turkey was always one of our favorites
I miss 2nd grade when the most stressful assignment before thanksgiving was outlining a hand to make turkey art pic.twitter.com/hWB6UsBqo6
— Jacqueline Warner (@JacWarner) November 7, 2014
Getting a little more "hands-on" with paint can be a little messy
.@CityParentMag our turkey crafts! Turkey finger prints and hand prints! #CROCKstars pic.twitter.com/HkECxCtf0F
— Doodlebug (@CrockADoodle) October 9, 2014
But students don't necessarily have to use their hands, either
A just-for-fun hand turkey competition for all ages: http://t.co/rNiQiSCygZ @rule29 @justinahrens pic.twitter.com/MsnR2rD3Ns
— Print magazine (@printmag) November 13, 2014
If you're feeling innovative, though, get techy with your turkey.
Last week we visited Plymouth. This week the Hand Turkeys come alive using Aurasma! http://t.co/Df4gDguh3A #tlap pic.twitter.com/XhlwjNJxJ4
— One if by Land (@OneifbylandMike) November 13, 2014
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