How to Draw a Turkey
This turkey is a big circle with a small one on top. The body in step 1 is drawn large and light, because every other part attaches to it, and the head in step 2 sits on a short neck at about half the body’s width, which keeps the bird plump. Step 3 adds two eyes, a triangle beak and the wattle, a long drop shape that overlaps the tip of the beak.
Wings, legs and the fan
A wing hangs on each side of the body in step 4, and step 5 adds two legs with three toes each. The tail fan takes the last two steps. Step 6 places three feathers behind the head, one standing straight up and one leaning out on each side, and step 7 adds four more, each a little shorter and tipped further out, until there are seven. The feathers look as if they are behind the bird when each line stops at the head or body. In every box the new lines are orange and the earlier ones are black.
Practice and ages
The eighth box shows the finished bird and the ninth is a dashed Your turn box, a handy place for kindergartners to copy an adult’s drawing from the board. A small copy of the turkey and the seven steps written out head page 2, above a large empty drawing area. For a traced warm-up there is a dashed outline online, plus an animation of about 22 seconds. It is marked for ages 6 to 8. The nine grid boxes get cramped when the page is shrunk to fit, so keep the A4 or Letter PDF at 100 percent.
Draw a turkey in 7 steps
New lines in each step are orange. Where a new part covers an earlier line, that bit turns dashed gray: rub it out.
Draw a big round body.
Add a round head on a short neck.
Add eyes, a beak and a wattle.
Draw a wing on each side of the body.
Add two legs with three toes each.
Draw three feathers behind the head.
Add four more feathers for a big fan.
Tips to make your turkey drawing easy
- Start with a large, light circle for the body; every other part attaches to it.
- Keep the head circle about half as wide as the body so the turkey looks plump.
- Draw the wattle as a long drop shape that overlaps the tip of the beak.
- The feathers sit behind the bird, so stop each feather line where it meets the head or body.
- Make each outer feather a little shorter than the one before it and tilt it further out.
- Watch the animation once, then pause it on any step that needs a closer look.
Turkey outline to print and trace
Print the finished outline on its own: trace over it with a pencil to learn the shapes, or use the dashed tracing sheet for younger kids who are still building pencil control. Both fit A4 and US Letter.
Color your turkey
Finished drawing? Print one of our 2 turkey coloring pages to color the same character in 2 difficulty levels, or color your own drawing with the step sheet beside you.
More turkey activities
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven turkey steps?
Body, then head and neck, then the eyes, beak and wattle, then a wing on each side, then two legs with three toes, then three feathers behind the head and finally four more feathers to finish the fan.
What is in the last two boxes of the grid?
On the A4 or US Letter step sheet, the eighth box shows the finished turkey, and the ninth is an empty dashed box marked Your turn, where a child can try the whole drawing alone.
What is the wattle?
A long drop shape drawn so that it overlaps the tip of the beak. It is the last part of step 3, after the two eyes and the triangle beak.
How do the feathers end up behind the turkey?
Each feather line stops where it meets the head or body instead of crossing it. Steps 6 and 7 build the fan that way, three feathers and then four.
About this printable
- Made with AI assistance (vector drawing authored by a language model) and checked by automated tests and an AI reviewer.
- Checked by automated tests and an AI reviewer on 22 Oct 2026.
- Free for personal and single-classroom use. See the license. Read the license · How these are made · Report a problem.
- Vector PDF, 2 pages, 186×254 mm art box — prints edge-safe on A4 and US Letter.
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