Trap Your Own Thanksgiving Turkey!

He’s fat, feathered, and fast! And he’s ready to make a run for the hills before Thanksgiving comes!

We’re referring to the turkey that you’re planning on eating for Thanksgiving dinner.. if you’re lucky enough, you might be able to catch one!

Provide students with sustainable or recyclable materials, like cardboard rolls, tissue boxes, shoeboxes, mounting putty, colored paper, craft sticks, string, etc. Students will use their supplies to design and build a simple trap to catch one of these feathered friends.

In addition to STEM learning, through this activity, students will:

☘️ Exercise critical thinking skills 

☘️ Explore creativity

☘️ Strengthen verbal and motor skills

☘️ Consider cause and effect, and

☘️ Have fun! 

Scaffolding + Extension Tips 

Use this holiday craft activity in your classroom in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and to support science lessons like:

• Science Investigation & Reasoning
• Simple Machines
• Physics
• Cause & Effect

Students who need help understanding the concepts would best benefit from group work that allows them to contribute their unique skills to complete the project.  

Challenge students to explain their trap by sharing their creations with their classmates. They should describe how they constructed their trap and any obstacles they encountered during the process.  

Easily Prepare This Thanksgiving Project for Your Students

We suggest using sustainable resources like reused or recycled paper and other materials that can be repurposed after completing this activity. 

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher in Florida and Teach Starter Collaborator.