Easy Turkey Coloring Pages for Thanksgiving

Easy turkey coloring pages for toddlers and preschool

Most turkeys on this page are rated easy, drawn as a round body, a neck, a wattle and a fan of wide tail feathers. The kawaii turkey is little more than two circles ringed with petals, and the plump turkey with a big belly or the plain outline leave open spaces that a chunky crayon fills in a few sweeps. For a child of two or three, these are the best place to start: give each tail feather its own shade and the bird looks finished straight away.

Cute cartoon turkeys for the Thanksgiving table

Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, and a cartoon turkey is the picture children expect to see that day. The turkey waving hello lifts one wing as if greeting the guests, another opens goggly eyes in surprise, and one with rosy cheeks strolls through tall grass. The grinning turkey beside a fallen oak leaf brings a touch of autumn, so kids can reach for orange, red and brown crayons for both. A colored sheet also makes a simple place card: write a guest's name on the back, fold the page and stand it next to the plate.

Realistic and wild turkeys for older kids

Children from about seven, and adults who like a slow page, will prefer the detailed birds. The wild turkey displays its fan in a field with the beard hanging from its chest, and the realistic tom puffs up a body made of overlapping feathers. Real wild turkeys look bronze from a distance, with copper, green and gold glinting on the body, a pale band at the tip of the tail and a bare head that can turn red, white or blue. Laying a deeper shade under each feather and a lighter one along its edge gives that shine.

Turkey faces, feathers and a classroom craft

Not every sheet shows the whole bird. The turkey face with big eyes peeks up from the bottom of the page, and a round turkey sits in the middle of a double fan of scallops. The single turkey feather is handy for crafts: print several, let each child color one and write something they are thankful for, then glue the feathers around a paper plate to build a class turkey. The pair of scaly feet can go at the bottom of the same plate.

More farm animals to color

Turkeys share the barnyard with chickens, cows and horses, so a farm afternoon does not have to end with the holiday. Children who finish their turkey can move on to the horse and pony coloring pages, where kawaii ponies, riders and Pegasus wait in the same clear outlines.