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Get your kids excited for Thanksgiving with these fun facts about turkeys.
I have broken down facts about these famous birds into three categories, along with fun printable activities you can do with your kiddos!
First, you will see the types of turkeys in North America, then simple turkey facts (written for kids to understand) about the common turkey birds.
Then, you will find more general facts about turkeys.
Types of Turkeys in North America
- Eastern
- Merriam
- Rio Grande
- Osceola
Facts About Turkeys for Young Kids
Whether you take your kids on a field trip to a farm yard, or the National Wildlife Refuge, here are some fun facts kids should know before their holiday meal on Thanksgiving day.
- A turkey is a large bird.
- Turkeys sleep in trees.
- Adult Male turkeys are gobblers.
- Girl turkeys are hens.
- Wild turkeys can fly.
- Young turkeys cannot fly.
- A group of turkeys is a flock.
- Turkeys eat plants and animals.
- Turkeys have a wattle.
- Turkeys have feathers.
- Turkey feathers are iridescent colors, such as green, bronze, red, copper, and gold.
Get your printable turkey facts worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers or my Little Learning Corner store.
More Turkey Facts
- Benjamin Franklin loved turkeys, and believed they should be known as the bird of courage rather than the bald eagle.
- Male turkeys, gobblers, are often referred to as tom turkeys
- Most domestic turkeys have white feathers.
- The National Turkey Federation estimates 46 million turkeys are eaten for Thanksgiving dinner.
- Turkeys have excellent vision. Their eyesight covers 270 degrees, and in color!
- Turkeys make different sounds, including a clicking noise, cackle, purr, cluck, putt, cutting, kee kee, gobble, and more.
- Average American families plan on buying 1 1/2 pounds of turkey per person for the dinner table on Thanksgiving day.
- People love to eat the white meat and dark meat of the adult turkeys.
- Other thank Ben Franklin, several founding fathers in the 16th century, did not want the turkey to be the national bird.
- Turkey droppings reveal the gender. Female droppings are more of a spiral shape, while males are formed like a letter J.
- A turkey’s head can change colors based on it’s mood.
- Wild turkeys can fly in short distances.
- The ocellated turkey is a large bird, and has a blue head with red and orange bumps, and are found in Central America
- The wild turkey population is around 7 million, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation
- A turkey courtship display is known as strutting. The male turkey displays his feather to impress the female turkeys.
Turkey Worksheets and Activities
Where do turkeys sleep? What do turkeys eat? Can baby turkeys fly? These are all great questions asked by my kinder students over the years.
To help answer these questions, you can read turkey stories, guide your students to research turkeys online, and present this Ten Turkey Facts for Kids anchor chart found in my Building Sentences: All About Turkeys resource.
My students were most surprised to learn turkeys sleep in trees, and that baby turkeys cannot fly. What would your kiddos be most excited to learn about?
After presenting the Turkey Facts for Kids printable anchor chart, and exposing students to informational text all about turkeys, you will have everything you need to quickly set up a Thanksgiving writing center.
Incorporate Thanksgiving poems for kids into your lessons all about turkeys, and watch as turkeys quickly become fun and interesting!
The Building Sentences, All About Turkeys, leveled word work is an excellent kindergarten and first grade Thanksgiving writing center activity.
Simply print the Building Sentences Turkey worksheets, and model how to complete the Thanksgiving word work activity.
Thank you for stopping by Little Learning Corner to learn these fun facts about turkeys. I hope your kids have fun learning all about these large birds.
Before you go, here are a few blog posts you may like:
65 Easy Holiday Crafts for Kids
Popular Thanksgiving Books for Kids
