Disguise a Turkey Printable Template (Free PDF)
Three blank turkey outlines for the classic Disguise-a-Turkey project. Two for kids to costume in any direction they want, one with a starter "don't eat me" caption box.
4 pages · Best for ages 5–10 · PDF, US Letter · no email required
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What's inside the PDF
- Template A — full-page turkey, blank body, no caption. Maximum costume freedom.
- Template B — turkey with a speech bubble ("Don't eat me, I'm a ____").
- Template C — smaller turkey with a writing prompt frame around it. Good for first-graders.
- A teacher notes page with prompts and a quick rubric.
How to use them
Send home as a Thanksgiving week homework project, run it in class as a centers activity, or hand one to your own kid at the kitchen table on a Sunday before the holiday. The classic project: kids have to disguise the turkey so it can't be eaten for Thanksgiving. Costumes get inventive — astronauts, pirates, taco trucks, dragons, dinosaurs. The kid explains the disguise in the speech bubble or writing prompt. We deliberately keep the outlines simple. The whole point is that the kid does the creative work, not the printable.
What this builds
Disguise-a-turkey is a creative-writing prompt and an art project rolled together. Kids practice planning ("what would hide a turkey?"), persuasive writing ("why should the farmer believe this?"), and presentation ("explain your turkey"). It's also one of the most photographed Thanksgiving projects on the internet for a reason — kids genuinely love it, and the finished pieces are a hallway-display favorite.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is the Disguise a Turkey project?
- It's a Thanksgiving tradition where kids disguise a turkey so it can't be eaten for the holiday. Originally a kindergarten-and-first-grade classroom project, it's spread into homes and on through second and third grade. The kid decides the disguise and explains it in writing or by show-and-tell.
- What age is this template for?
- We sized it for grades K–4 (ages 5–10). Kindergarteners go costume-only; older kids fill the writing prompt.
- Can I print these for my classroom?
- Yes — for a single class. Don't redistribute the PDF file online.
- Do you sell a finished example?
- No. The whole point is the kid's creative work. We don't show example disguises so kids can't copy them.
- When is this typically due?
- Most classrooms run it the week before Thanksgiving. We'd recommend bookmarking this page in early November.
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