As turkey-texture, this guide uses an image of autumn leaves, but really any fall-related image makes a good backdrop for the turkey. You can alternatively trace an adult hand and color in using pencil or crayon.

Print your preferred image and glue it to a piece of scrap cardboard, or use the same autumn leaves, linked below.

Once your glue has taken hold, we're ready to start carving our bird.

Hand Tracing

 

Once you've glued your image to a piece of cardboard, flip it over and trace your hand on the back.

 

Cut out this tracing with scissors or a hobby knife.

Turkey Face

 

Cut a small triangle from the leftover scrap cardboard. This piece will become the turkey's beak.

 

Glue on eye and beak. A small piece of paper can help affix the beak in place.

Off with its Head

 

Remove turkey head at the point where the thumb joins with palm.

Motor Mount

 

Use hot glue to attach a small square of cardboard to the back of the hand.

 

A thin rectangle of cardboard can be used to expand the servo arm, making it easier to attach things to.

 

Stick servo motor to the motor mount using double sided tape or glue.

Re-attach the Head

 

Tape the turkey head onto servo arm using a small rectangle of double sided tape.

Hand Support

 

Glue support struts to base of hand.

 

These will help attach the hand to a platform.

Create the Base

 

Cut out a rectangle of cardboard to serve as a platform on which to mount the turkey.

 

Using your CRICKIT board as a gauge, mark two lines where the cardboard will fold.

 

Glue a strip of cardboard between the two folded sections, holding them at 90 degrees.

Now that the physical structure is together, it's time to incorporate the CRICKIT and connect everything.

The circuit diagram below shows the connections that need to be made.

Connect CRICKIT

 

Cut a hole in the middle of the base. This will allow the servo motor cable to connect to CRICKIT. 

 

Stick CRICKIT inside the base, feed the servo motor cable through a hole and connect it to the servo pins (lightest color wire facing in).

Add Audio

 

Connect speaker to the Speaker terminal block on the CRICKIT.

 

This speaker can be inconspicuously mounted inside using a small square of double sided tape.

This guide was first published on Nov 21, 2018. It was last updated on Apr 17, 2024.

This page (Create Your Turkey) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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