Thanksgiving
Turkey Hunt
Draw or paste pictures of turkeys on 10-12 index cards. Send the "hunters" into another room while you hide the turkeys. You're now ready to let the game begin! Turn your "hunters" loose to see who can find the most turkeys. As the hunters find the turkeys, be sure keep the cards separated so that you can see who has the most in the end. In ...(read more)
Thanksgiving Family Tree
Draw a large tree with the branches that represent your family. Let your children go through your pictures and pick out a picture for each family member on the tree. Hang the tree in your dining room so that you can talk about all of the people you love on Thanksgiving. (read more)
Crafty Turkeys
This activity is a great way for children to practice holding scissors correctly. Using child-sized scissors, allow your child to cut a strip of construction paper. It works best if the strip is about 2 inches wide, but any size will work. Have him or her cut about 5 of these strips, all in different colors. Fan out the strips and help your child glue them ...(read more)
Thanksgiving Playdough Patterns
Using large and small turkey-shaped cookie cutters, trace a pattern onto a strip of paper. For example, small turkey, large turkey, small turkey, large turkey. Have your child cut turkey shapes out of playdough, using the same cookie cutters, and place them on top of the traced turkey shapes. They can continue the pattern beyond the strip of paper. As they master simple patterns, you can ...(read more)
Family Turkey Hands
As a holiday keepsake, each member of the family can trace a hand on construction paper. Superimpose hands on top of one another, largest to smallest for turkey feathers, then add a turkey head, beak and legs with marker to finish your keepsake family gobbler. You could also laminate it and repeat this activity each year for a set of placemats that show how you have all grown ...(read more)
Thanksgiving Journal
Compile a list of questions that you can ask your children every year: What are you thankful for, what's your favorite food at Thanksgiving, what's your least favorite Thanksgiving food, etc. Write the answers exactly as your child gives them. It's amazing the things that kids will say and how much their answers change from year to year. Put the questions and answers pages in a binder ...(read more)
Cornucopia Toss
Draw and cut out a large cornucopia, and then tape it on the floor. Using masking tape, tape a line on the floor a short distance away from the cornucopia. Have your child try to toss pieces of plastic fruit and vegetables (we use the ones from our plastic picnic set) into the cornucopia. This is great for working on motor skills and hand-eye coordination!(read more)
Peanut Butter Turkeys
Spread peanut butter on bread. Add a carrot stick as the turkey's neck, an olive as the head and celery sticks as the feathers Cute seasonal snack! (read more)
Signs of Thanksgiving
A great way for kids to help greet your Thanksgiving dinner guests. Have them collect leaves, pine cones, twigs, strips of bark, and other natural decor. Assemble and glue the collection of objects to sheets of colored card stock to form various messages like "Give Thanks." Use tacky glue for heavier items, like pine cones, and a glue stick for lighter ones, like leaves. Once the ...(read more)
Good Behavior Turkey
Draw a turkey body without feathers on a piece of construction paper. As your child does good deeds, let your child add a feather to the turkey. When the turkey is complete, your child has earned a special reward. This is a great way to kick off the holiday season!(read more)
Turkey Feather Counting
Draw a turkey body without feathers on 2 pieces of paper (or one turkey for however many players you have). Then cut 10 turkey feathers for each player out of colored construction paper -- use plenty of different colors so you'll have colorful turkeys. You are now ready to begin the game: Each player rolls the dice and adds that many feathers to his or her turkey. ...(read more)
Pin the Tailfeathers on the Turkey
A re-working of the old standard Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Draw a large turkey and tape it to the wall. Cut out feathers from construction paper and stick small pieces of tape to the back. Blindfold a child and have them try to stick the feather in the correct place. This is a great game to occupy the little ones while you're busy putting ...(read more)
Turkey of Thanks
This fun art project helps children focus on things they are grateful for. To make the turkey, trace around one hand of the child on white paper. Enclose the space left by the wrist and add legs to the bottom. Draw wattle, beak, and eyes on the thumb (head). Ask your child what she is thankful for (she may need some help getting started) and write one ...(read more)
Apple Turkey
Take 5 toothpicks and slide miniature colored marshmallows to fill each toothpick. Color a turkey face on a piece of paper, cut it out, and tape it to the front of an apple. Push toothpicks into the top of the apple to resemble feathers. Makes a cute table decoration for Thanksgiving!(read more)
Turkey Handprints
This is a great activity to do year after year to see how big your kids are getting! Paint the palm of your child's hand brown and then add colorful "feathers" by painting their fingers. Press your child's hand on the paper. Draw feet and the turkey wattle and eye. Do both hands and you can have a pair of turkeys looking at each other. ...(read more)
Handprint Turkeys
Paint the palm of your child's hand with brown paint. Then, press your child's palm onto a piece of paper to create the turkey's body. Next paint your child's thumb brown for the neck and head and press down at an appropriate angle to the body. Paint each finger a different color for feathers and press down. Last, paint on eyes and a tiny beak -- older ...(read more)
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