M&M Thanksgiving Turkey STEM Activity for Preschool

This super fun and simple Thanksgiving turkey STEM activity makes the perfect fall science experiment for preschool, kindergarten, and more.

For this fun Thanksgiving science activity, you will need a plastic plate, warm water, a bag of M&M’s, a super small cup, construction paper, and googly eyes. It only takes a few minutes to set up and is sure to impress kids of all ages.

For more fun turkey themed activities for preschoolers be sure to also check out this fun feed the turkey sensory bin.

Thanksgiving Turkey Stem Activity Set-up Tips

*When setting up this fun experiment with kids you will need a plastic plate. We used a kid’s size dinner plate. You can also use a glass plate or a styrofoam plate. However, we wouldn’t recommend using a paper plate as the colors will seep into the plate and it won’t work as well. You can use any colored plate but a light colored plate like white helps view the color changes best.

*You can set up the turkey body ahead of time. Just cut out a brown body shape (you could even trace a toddler’s foot for a good sized body). Glue on an orange triangle for a beak and add googly eyes to the top.

*You will need to use a small glass or cup to tape the turkey body onto as it will get wrecked if it gets wet. The top of the glass just needs to be above the water. We used a shot glass but any small cup or glass similar in size would work.

*In order to get enough of the color M&Ms that you need you may need to use a normal size bag of candy. We like to use yellows, oranges, browns, and reds. However, if you don’t care what color feathers your turkey has you can use a snack-size bag of M&M’s. This is a great way to use your leftover Halloween candy.

*This STEM activity works best with warm water. The warm water reacts to the sugar and colors in the M&M shells and makes the colors spread and blend.

Thanksgiving M&M Stem Activity

Materials:

• Light colored plastic plate
• Bag of M&Ms
• Warm water
• 1 small cup or glass (shot glass size works great)
• Brown & orange construction paper
• Googly eyes
• 1 piece of tape

Directions:

1. Create your turkey body by cutting out a small brown body shape from construction paper. Add on an orange beak and two googly eyes.
2. Tape your turkey body to the top of a shot glass or small glass.

3. Spread out orange, brown, yellow, and red M&Ms around the top half of the plate. Add two small orange or yellow M&Ms to the bottom of the plate for the turkey legs.
4. Pour warm water onto the middle of the plate until the bottom and M&Ms are covered completely.
5. Quickly pop your turkey cup in the middle of the plate.
6. Watch your plate for about 1 minute and the M&M shells and colors will start to melt and form. The color will slowly flow to the middle of the plate and the Turkey cup. The colors will look like turkey feathers and legs.

More Fun Turkey Crafts and Activities

The above science experiment makes the perfect Fall turkey activity. For more Thanksgiving turkey crafts and activities check out some of our favorites below:

• Turkey Paper Bag Puppets – Using a brown paper bag and construction paper handprints create a fun puppet craft that is perfect for Thanksgiving
• Feed the Turkey Sensory Bin – Using dried corn as a base create a fun turkey themed sensory bin. Feed the turkey corn and practice number recognition while playing as well.
• Footprint Turkey – This cute Thanksgiving keepsake uses paint and both footprints and handprints to create a Turkey. Includes a free Turkey printable poem to go along with it.