Easy Thanksgiving Kids Craft: Make Finger Puppets

An accidental tradition was started here on Craft Jr. when I posted my Easter finger puppets project last spring – suddenly we couldn’t seem to stop making finger puppets in our house! Since then my kids and I have put together not one, but two sets of Halloween finger puppets and here is a new set of Thanksgiving finger puppets!

Thanksgiving Finger Puppets Craft Materials List

I’ve placed a photograph next to each finger puppet with the exact materials needed for each Halloween Critter. All of them require a very easy to find set of stuff:

Pipe Cleaners

Pom Poms (The pumpkin puppet uses a larger pom pom than the others)

Googly Eyes

Glue (Hot glue gun works best, but I’ve since discovered that even regular glue will suffice, it just takes longer to dry)

Wire Cutters (So you don’t ruin your scissors cutting the pipe cleaners)

The pilgrim finger puppet also needs fabric paint

The Turkey and Indian need foam autumn leaves (found at Oriental Trading or offline at your local big box craft store)

How to Make Thanksgiving Finger Puppets

Please refer to the original Easter finger puppets post for general assembly instructions.

It explains the general instructions on how to wind the pipe cleaners around your finger and how to attach the pom poms accurately.

Thanksgiving Turkey Finger Puppet

Pick 3-5 foam leaves and arrange them in a fan to become the turkey tail feathers. If you found foam leaf stickers, you can just adhere them that way. Otherwise glue them together as shown.

Wind the orange pipe cleaner finger puppet base.

Bend a 3 inch brown piece of pipe cleaner as shown for the turkey head and neck:

Glue the tail feathers onto the back of the large dark red pom pom.

Glue the cut end of the brown pipe cleaner turkey neck into the front of the pom pom.

Glue the tiny bright red pom pom onto the bottom of the turkey head to make his waddle.

Glue googly eyes in place.

Glue the finished turkey to the finger puppet base.

Thanksgiving Pilgrim Finger Puppet

Wind the black pipe cleaner finger puppet base.

Take a full size black pipe cleaner and bend it into the shape of a pilgrim hat. This photo doesn’t help too much, but I folded the square top of the hat first, then made two tight loops for the hat brim:

Use white dimensional fabric paint to paint on the hat band as shown.

Glue the hat onto the pom pom head.

Glue the googly eyes in place.

Glue the head onto the finger puppet base.

Thanksgiving Indian Finger Puppet

Wind the brown pipe cleaner finger puppet base.

Cut about a 2.5 inch piece of red pipe cleaner and bend it into a circle as shown.

Glue it onto the tan pom pom head.

Glue the red “feather” leaf in place on the back of the head.

Glue the googly eyes in place.

Glue the head onto the finger puppet base.