Watch and listen to this fun Thanksgiving picture
book, narrated by Miss Portola.
Songs, Fingerplays, &
Flannel Board
Five Little Turkeys
5 little turkeys standing by the door,
One waddled off, and then there were 4.
4 little turkeys under a tree,
One waddled off , and then there were 3.
3 little turkeys with nothing to do,
One waddled off, and then there were 2.
2 little turkeys sleeping in the sun,
One waddled off, and then there was 1.
One little turkey better run away,
Before Thanksgiving dinner, on Thanksgiving day.
Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys are we.
We spent all night in a tree.
When the cook came around,
We couldn’t be found
And that's why we're here you see!
The Turkey Pokey
You put your right wing in, you put your right wing out,
You put your right wing in, and you gobble all about.
You do the turkey jerky and you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about. Hey!
[Continue with
drumstick or turkey leg, tail feathers, beak, plus
wishbone or turkey breast, and of course to put your whole
turkey self in jump in with both feet.]
Five Fat Turkeys In The Barn
[tune: frčre Jacque]
INTRO:
Let's get our turkeys out: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 <count on fingers>
SONG:
Five fat turkeys, five fat turkeys
<hand with 5 fingers bobs up and down> in the
barn, in the barn <one hand covers
over other fist> gobble, gobble, gobble <fingers waggle under chin>
wobble, wobble, wobble <sway
hips/hands at sides, as if waddling> run away <one hand goes behind back>
run away <other hand goes behind
back>
Hosted by
Mayflower.com this informative site features articles and pictures
of the Mayflower, its passengers, life in Plymouth, the Wampanoag,
plus information on the Pilgrim's explorations of the Cape Cod area
as well as on modern Plymouth. Good reading for middle school
and above, and great resource information for parents and teachers.
Most of us are
familiar with the first American Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims
in 1621. But did you know that the first official
national Thanksgiving holiday was proclaimed by our first American
president, George Washington, in 1789? It wasn't until Abraham
Lincoln issued a new proclamation in 1863 that our modern tradition
really got started.
Did you know that
Turkeys lived almost ten
million years ago!
And Turkeys can see in color.
Amaze friends and family this Thanksgiving with your knowledge of
turkey trivia learnedhere.
For decades, or
perhaps longer, Thanksgiving diners have asked the question, "Why do
I feel so drowsy after the Thanksgiving meal?" And for a while
it seemed that science had found the answer:
tryptophan,
a substance that in purified form causes sleepiness, occurs
naturally in turkey meat. But new findings suggest that
the levels in turkey cannot be the culprit.
Read more
Includes Mayflower memory game, Tom Turkey hide and seek, pin the
feather on the turkey, duck duck turkey, and picking pumpkins.
Arts & Crafts
Pinecone Turkey
This is a great craft because it's really
easy, looks so cute when finished, and best of all it can be adapted
for different ages. Older kids cans can do the whole
project themselves, while younger elementary school age can assemble
their own turkey using precut "heads" and hot glue. With our 2
year old class we assembled the little turkey faces ahead of time
and hot glued them to the pinecones. Then the little ones
could concentrate on slathering on the white craft glue, and
attaching the feathers -- challenge enough for most of them.
(Note: kids can also dip the bottom end of the feather into a bowl
of glue to stick them on the turkey.)
What you need:
medium or large pine cones small googly eyes craft foam sheets in brown and yellow packages of small craft feathers in shades of brown and bright
colors white craft glue glue gun and glue
If you have been looking for Thanksgiving crafts to make, then
this mini cornucopia is a great project! You will end up with
cute cornucopias that you can put at each guests spot at the
table!
Colored popcorn is what makes
this craft stand out. First, air pop some popcorn (i.e.
no oil!). Next, place the cooled popcorn in large
Ziploc baggies with some powdered tempra paint. Use
three baggies, one with purple powder, one with red powder, and
one with yellow powder. Shake well to coat the corn.
Meanwhile, use yellow construction paper to cut out some large,
yellow ears of corn. You can make these life size, or much
larger. Have your child glue the colored popcorn to
the paper corn "ears". Make your own collage too, and talk
with them about how they can mix the different colored kernels
in anyway they like. Some ears might be all one color,
while another mixes all the colors. They could even play
with patterning the colors -- one red, one purple, one yellow,
and repeat.
(Be sure to explain the popcorn is not for eating! The
paint is non-toxic, but still...)
Using brown construction paper, trace child's foot
print (with shoe on), and cut out.
Then trace both hands on brown construction paper.
Cut out.
Trace and cut out hand prints in such colors as red,
yellow, orange, green and perhaps purple, tan,
and/or white.
Turn foot print cut out upside down. And
-- using glue stick, tape, or craft glue -- attach
colored hand prints to back of the foot print to
resemble a turkey's fanned out tail
Attach the two brown hand prints onto the lower
portion of the foot print (the wide part), as wings.
Cut a small diamond shape out of yellow construction
paper. Fold the diamond in half to form the
beak. Glue the back of the bottom portion of
the beak onto the turkey's head (the small or narrow
part of the foot print).
Attach two googly eyes above the beak.
Cut a "wattle" out of red construction paper if
desired.
Cut out two little turkey feet out of yellow or
orange paper, if desired, and attach.
(photo coming soon)
____________________________
Turkey Poem
This poem can be written or typed out and attached to
the back of the turkey or written on a large piece of
construction paper which may be then decorated to serve
as a holiday placemat.
A turkey is a funny bird,
Its head goes wobble, wobble,
All it knows is just one word,
"Gobble, gobble, gobble."
Cut the bottom and top off of an empty oatmeal box (the
round, cylinder-shaped kind). Wrap with brown
construction paper.
Trace a child's shoe on brown construction paper and cut
out. Use small end to form the head. Attach
large ("breast") end to the paper-covered box -- so that the
head sticks up over the top of the box.
Cut a diamond shape out of yellow or orange construction
paper, fold in half and glue in place as the beak.
Add two googly eyes.
Use a small scrap of red construction for the wattle.
Fold the red paper in several small accordion like folds
(will look like small paper stairs). Allow paper to
unfold, and attach small end next to top of beak with glue.
Allow it to dangle down one side of beak.
Now create streamers out of 12x18 pieces of construction
paper. Red, green, purple, orange, even yellow, will
make great colors.
Glue streamers to bottom of the tube.
Trace and cut two hand prints out of brown construction
paper and attach to tube for "wings", if desired.
(image coming soon)
Gratitude Wreath
Cut an O-shaped backing out of cardboard or a paper plate.
Paint brown (metallic gold or gold glitter paint works nice
also) and let dry.
Meanwhile, using a
leaf template,
cut out paper leaves in different fall colors.
Glue some blank leaves onto the "o" shaped backing.
Using the remaining leaves, write something you are thankful for
on each leaf (this could be a group activity).
Glue these leaves onto the wreathe. Be sure to arrange the
leaves so that they overlap and poke out in different directions
-- just like real leaves.
Paint a paper plate with brown tempra paint and let
dry (note: for simplicity, you can simply paint the
bottom side of the paper plate).
Cut large, wide "feathers" out of colored
construction paper. If desired, you can
"notch" them with scissors (making tiny cuts along
the edges to fringe it like real feathers), but be
careful not to cut too deeply.
Cut a narrow oval (about the same height as paper
plate) out of brown construction paper. Glue
oval onto "bottom" side of paper plate, so that one
end of the oval sticks up over the edge of the plate
-- by about 2 inches.
Glue "feathers" onto the other side of the plate to
form the turkey's magnificent tail.
Cut a small heart shape out of red construction
paper to form the wattle.
Cut a small diamond or triangle out of orange
construction paper to form the beak.
First glue the heart on -- upside down -- where the
turkey's chin would be. Then glue on beak, so
that it overlaps the wattle (hiding the point of the
heart).
Add googly eyes, or eyes cut out of construction
paper.
Using a large-sized piece of
brown construction paper, cut a strip to fit child's head, plus an
extra inch (to overlap). Cut an assortment of paper "feathers"
from different colors of construction paper. Attach with
glue or tape to back of head band. If using glue, allow to
dry. Then fit headband to child's head, adjusting overlap for
proper fit. Attach with tape or staple.
For extra fun, use some
colored craft feathers to glue around the top of the brown head
band, so that they overlap the paper feathers.
Turkey
Wreath
