Thanksgiving Placemats

Hand print turkeys are a must for Thanksgiving!  This year, I made the kids' hand print turkeys into placemats simply by covering them with clear contact paper.

First, I painted one hand so that the palm and thumb were brown and the four fingers were alternating red and yellow.  I helped C and R place their hands on the paper to create the hand prints.

Once they were dry, C and R added the details to the turkeys and then decorated the rest of the paper.  Once they were done, I covered them with the clear contact paper.

This is C's placemat (I love the turkey dinner in the lower left corner):

Here is R's placemat (pink paper, of course!):

I think hand print turkeys are the original hand print craft.  At least, it's the only one I remember actually making as a kid.

One of our favorite Thanksgiving books features hand print turkeys.  Setting the Turkeys Free by W. Nikola-Lisa and Ken Wilson-Max is about a boy who uses paint, paper, sequins, toothpicks, and more to create beautiful turkeys.  He loves his creations and they begin to take on a life of their own.  When Foxy the fox comes around, the boy has to figure out how to keep his turkeys safe.  This is a really cute book for young kids and it is sure to inspire some hand print turkey creations!