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THANKSGIVING THEME

CRAFTS:

Candy Corn Turkey
Reproduce a turkey pattern, then trace it onto a piece of heavy white paper for each child. Have your kids colour the turkey and then glue on feathers made from candy corn.

Dots
Kids should drop a dozen grains of rice on a piece of white paper. Get them to make a dot on the spot where each grain falls, then create a picture by joining all the dots.

Handprint Turkey Card
MATERIALS: 1 sheet of white construction paper per child, labeled brown, red, orange, green, yellow, purple paint, red & black markers
DIRECTIONS: Paint the palm and thumb of the child's hand brown. Then paint each of the fingers a different color and stamp onto the white construction paper. Place the construction paper lengthwise. When dry, use markers to draw eyes, feet, and wattle.

Multicolored Turkey Hand
Paint the child's palm brown and then paint each finger using one color for each finger: red, green, yellow, and orange. Have child press hand on piece of paper. After the paint dries you can add the eye, beak, and the wattle (that little red dangling thing under the beak).

Pumpkin Seed Masks
The masks will require dry pumpkin  seeds, paper bags painted orange, and glue. Ask your the kids to draw faces on the bags. They can glue down pumpkin seeds for decorations or to highlight facial features. Let them add small boxes for nose, ears and eyes. Cut holes for the eyes and nose. Voila! The masks are ready to wear.

Pinecone Turkey 
A pleasant nature walk is all you need to gather supplies for this pinecone turkey figure. Thanksgiving is the perfect time for this craft that's fun for kids to create and makes a great place setting idea. 
What you'll need: Pinecone, Acorn or elongated small nut, Two (10 mm) wiggle eyes, Low temp glue gun or tacky glue, Red chenille stem, Orange chenille stem, Wire cutters, Bird feathers , Slice of dead tree branch or other piece of wood for base (about 1/2 inch thick and three inches across) , Gold spray paint 
How to make it: • Lightly spray the pinecone with gold spray paint. Let dry. 
• Cut the orange chenille into two (three inch) pieces. 
• Fold the first orange chenille stem into half, twist about 1/4 inches from end and open up ends to make the feet. 
• Repeat for second orange chenille stem. 
• Stick the orange feet in the turkey a little less than halfway from the largest end. Glue in place (See photo). 
• Glue turkey body (pinecone) with feet down to the piece of wood. 
• Glue the acorn to the smallest end of the pine cone. 
• Glue feathers in the pinecone closest to the largest end (see photo for placement). 
• Glue wiggle eyes on the head (acorn). 
• Cut a tiny piece of red chenille stem to use as the waddle and glue below the eyes. 
• Make extras and use them on your Thanksgiving table! 

Paper Turkeys
Make Turkeys out of stuffed paper bags, Children paint and decorate with feathers ( construction paper or real)

This is My Turkey 
Materials: large sheet of construction paper (17''x11''), brown construction paper cut into shape of turkey's head & feet, photocopies of the poem "This is my Turkey" (below)
small paper plates, brown paint & brushes, smocks, scissors, manila paper, felt pens or crayons, glue or glue sticks
Procedure: Trace and cut out children's hand prints on manila paper. Children color hand prints, paint paper plate, and then glue turkey head & feet, hand prints (turkey's tail feathers) and paper plates (turkey's body)onto large sheet of construction paper. Children can glue poem onto construction paper and then color the paper.

Turkey Feathers
MATERIALS: 1 coffee filter per child, 1 turkey shape cut out of brown construction paper
markers, glue
DIRECTIONS: Have children flatten coffee filters and color them with markers. Help children fold and tape their decorated coffee filters to the back of the turkey shape for feathers.

Turkey Plate
Have your child paint a paper plate with lots of different colors, or have them sponge paint all over the plate. Let the plate dry. Cut out a brown construction pear shape to resemble the body of a turkey. Cut out a yellow triangle and red teardrop shape to form the beak, and punch out two black "eyes" with a hole punch out of black paper. Have the child assemble the turkey and then glue onto the plate as the turkey's feathers. 

GAMES & ACTIVITIES:

Numbers
Make a chain of 10 turkeys, 10 days before Thanksgiving. Scotch tape together, one below the other and remove one turkey each day until Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Hunting
Hide lots of paper pumpkins around the pond. Organize the kids in to groups, and give each group leader a length of string and tape or paper clips for  attaching pumpkins to it. Each group chooses a special signal for calling their leader (barking, clapping, chirping), because only the leader can pick up the pumpkins. On a signal, the kids search for the pumpkins. When they find one, they place a finger on it and signal their leader by their special call, so the leader can pick up the pumpkin and attach it to the string. 

Pilgrim and Turkeys
Equipment:  None 
How to Play:  Select one "pilgrim" to stand in the center of the room while all of the "turkeys" stand at one end.  A leader calls, "Gobble, gobble!" to signal the turkeys to run to the other end of the room.  The pilgrim tries to tag as many turkeys as he can.  Tagged turkeys crouch down becoming rocks and are not allowed to move or touch turkeys in any way.  The remaining turkeys run back and forth across the hall avoiding the pilgrim and the rocks on the floor.  A turkey who accidentally touches a rock becomes a rock herself.  The last turkey left receives a turkey cheer by the others: "Gobble, gobble, gobble!", and then becomes the pilgrim for the next game.
 

The Turkey Dance
(done to the German Folk Song- The Chicken Dance)
Find a recording of the Chicken Dance and have the children pretend to be turkeys. Teach the children the movements: Make your hands like they are "talking" 4 times.
Pretend to "flap" your wings 4 times.
Wiggle your bottom 4 times.
Clap four times.
Continue until you are tired out or the music stops.
~~~Which ever comes first!

Turkey Wobble 
Play music of your choice and encourage the children to move like:
BIG turkeys
Little turkeys
Tired turkeys
Happy turkeys
Scared turkeys
Etc.

Turkey Talk
Choose two children to be turkeys. Have them go to the center of the circle. Recite, with the other children, the poem below. When the poem is done, encourage the two "turkeys" to chat with each other in turkey talk.
Two turkeys went out to play
On one fine sunny day.
When they got together,
This is what they had to say!

Turkey Strut
Use pieces of masking tape to make turkey footprints all over the floor. Start playing some music. Let the children pretend to be turkeys and strut around the room. When you stop the music, have the turkeys find footprints to stand on (one turkey to a footprint). When you start the music again, have the turkeys continue strutting around the room. 

SONGS:

Five Turkeys In A Tree
Five fat turkeys are we.
We slept all night in a tree.
When the cook came around,
We couldn't be found,
That's why we're here, you see.

Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys were sitting on a fence.
The first one said, "I'm so immense."
The second one said, ""I can gobble at you."
The third one said, "I can gobble too."
The fourth one said, "I can spread my tail."
The fifth one said, "Don't catch it on a nail."
A farmer came along and stopped to say
"Turkeys look best on Thanksgiving Day."

Gobble, Gobble
A turkey is a funny bird,
His head goes wobble, wobble.
And he knows just one word,
Gobble, gobble, gobble.

I'm A Little Turkey
(tune of I'm a little Teapot)
I'm a little turkey; I like to play,
I'm very hungry; I eat all day.
When I see the hunter with his gun,
Then I know it's time to run.

My Turkey
(As you recite the poem below, have the children act out the movements described.)
I have a turkey, big and fat.
He spreads his wings
And walks like that.
His daily corn he would not miss,
And when he talks he sounds like this
Gobble, gobble, gobble.

Mr. Turkey
Tune: Frere Jacques
Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey
Run away, run away.
If you are not careful,
You will be a mouthful,
Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Day!

Mr. Turkey Gobbler
Mr. Turkey Gobbler, wobbling all around,
He gobbles here, he gobbles there, it's such a funny sound.
He spreads his tail into a fan, and acts like he is mad,
But I like Mr. Gobbler, he really isn't mad.

Run Fast Little Turkey 
Act out the following with your children:
The brave little Pilgrim
Went out in the wood
Looking for a meal
That would taste really good.
First she/he picked cranberries
Out in the bog.
Then she saw a turkey
Hiding in a log.
Run fast little turkey.
Run fast as you may.
Or you will come to dinner On Thanksgiving Day!

Turkey in the Barnyard
Turkey in the barnyard, what does he say?
Gobble, gobble, gobble all day.
Turkey on the table, what do you say?
Yummy, yummy, yummy all day.
Turkey in my tummy, what do I say?
I ate too much turkey on Thanksgiving Day!
(hold your hand on your belly and make a pained face...the kids love this!)

This is My Turkey
This is my turkey
You know what s/he can do?
S/he can spread his tail
And wave at you!
 

STORIES:

Have any good stories? Let us know!
 

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:

Baked Pumpkin
This was eaten by Ojibway families who grew pumpkins and harvested maple syrup on their land.
Ingredients: small pumpkin1/3 cup melted sugar1/3 cup maple syrup1/3 cup apple cider1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
What to do: Place the washed pumpkin on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 2 hours.  Take the pumpkin out of the oven and let it cool. (Leave the oven on.) Cut a Jack-o-Lantern hole in the top of the pumpkin, and clean out the inside of the pumpkin, putting the seeds aside and the pulp in a large bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients into the pulp and mix well. Pour the pulp back into the pumpkin, replace the lid, and bake for another 30 minutes. When the pumpkin cools, it can be cut into pieces to be eaten. Native people also pumpkin baked seeds on their own, after salting them.

Turkey
Use a prune for body, gumdrops on toothpicks for the legs. Toothpick with marshmallow for neck and head, raisin eyes, cupcake paper for tail.

Turkey Dinner
Have a mock (or real if it's that time of year!) Thanksgiving dinner, complete with dressing, cranberry sauce, and of course, the turkey! Use the dinner to emphasize how we should be thankful every day for the things we have in life. 

TIPS/NOTES: