Turkey Bowling

On Thanksgiving Day, we have a family tradition. We play the "Turkey Games." It's basically a bunch of games and friendly competition amongst our family and friends of all ages. As the table is being set and Thanksgiving dinner is cooking, it's a really fun way to spend time together. This year, we're trying out a new event: Turkey Bowling. My kids had a blast creating and playing this DIY game. Plus, the scoring brings a little math and learning to the fun. Strike!

  1. Ages: 3 - 8

  2. 30 minutes - 1 hour

  3. A little messy

Tags:

Materials you'll need

Step-by-step tutorial

  • Step 1

    For our turkey bowling pins, we made paper feathers. If you have feathers on hand, you can simply use those.

    First, cut the paper into a rectangle. The length will be the height of the feather which you'll glue onto your bottle. So you might want to size it up against your bottle.

    Then, fold the paper in half and cut out half of a feather shape so that you have a feather when you open the fold.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 1

  • Step 2

    Now you're going to make the barbs of the feather. With your feather folded, cut at a slant into the middle, along the edge. Don't cut all the way through. Keep making cuts all the way down.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 2

  • Step 3

    When you open up the fold, you have your feather! I have to admit that we found this to be rewarding. The fringing makes the feather look pretty cool.

    We were making a set of 6 pins with 4 feathers each. So we repeated the steps for each one.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 3

  • Step 4

    Then we cut out the shape of the turkey's head/neck, beak, and wattle.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 4

  • Step 5

    Glue the pieces that you cut out as well as the googly eyes onto the bottle.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 5

  • Step 6

    To complete your turkey, flip the bottle over and glue a set of feathers onto the back.

    Photo reference of how to complete step 6

  • Final result!

    Now grab a ball, and you're ready to bowl! On top of playing, my kids created a scoreboard to keep track of everyone's points. (I loved this because it's a way to bring a little math to the fun.) Hope you have as much fun as we did with this game!

    Photo reference of how to complete step 7

You might also like

Top categoriesBurst graphic

Share what you made & tag us at!

;