The children will have fun gobbling like turkeys as they play this rainy-day game. To start the game, have one child leave the room and another child hide a small stuffed turkey. When the child returns to the room, the children give clues by gobbling softly when he/she is far away from the turkey and gobbling loudly when close. Once the turkey is found, another child takes a turn finding Mr. Turkey.
Reading:
Turkey Feather Match
Draw a turkey on a piece of sturdy paper. Cut several feathers out of various colors of construction paper. Program each turkey shape with a capital letter. Program several of the feathers with its matching lowercase letter. Make a turkey for each letter you want to review. Have your children find all the lowercase letter feathers that match the capital letter on the turkey. [This can be used in centers]
Read A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. Have students draw the characters that were in the story. [Teacher's Helper, Nov/Dec/Jan 1997-98 issue has a worksheet that has the pictures of the characters to choose from. Students cut and paste the characters that came to the Thanksgiving feast.] If I use the worksheet, I will use it in my listening center as a comprehension exercise.
Arts & Crafts:
Fine-Feathered Turkeys
To make a turkey, cut a circle from brown card stock or poster board. Glue a wooden "ice cream spoon" to the circle for a turkey head. Paint each of six wooden clothespins a different color. When the paint is dry, clip the clothespins onto the turkey body to resemble feathers. Tape two craft sticks to the back of the turkey to represent legs. Add small wiggle eyes, a wattle, and a yellow beak to complete the turkeys. Cute!
Hand and Feet Turkeys
Trace 2 child's handprints on red, orange, yellow, tan construction paper. Cut out. Trace both of child's feet on brown construction paper (with shoes on). Cut out. Put foot patterns on top of each other turned outward with the toes pointed down and heels on top each other. Add the red, yellow, and orange handprints for feathers. Add the tan handprints on front as the turkey's wings. Add wiggle eyes, an orange beak, and a red wattle. They are precious.
Run a corn and husk template on manila paper. Have child cut each out. Color over the husk pattern with brown. Glue husks to the corn pattern. Use brown, yellow, red, and orange tempera paint to add "dots of corn" to the corn shape. I use q-tips to put the dots fo corn on as it is less messy.
Tissue Paper Indian Corn
To make an earl of Indian corn, trace a corncob shape onto construction paper, and then cut out the shape. Crumple small pieces of brown, orange, yellow, red, and black tissue paper. Glue the tissue paper to the corncob cutout to resemble corn kernels.
Paper Plate Turkey
Paint or color the bottom sides of a large paper plate. Cut 10 to 12 8" feathers from the construction paper. Cut an oval for the head and two 2" triangles for the feet.
Glue or staple on head; draw features. Glue or staple on feathers and feet. Attach a hanger.
Collect an empty Pringles can and its lid for each child. Cut a strip of construction paper to fit around each can. Put a variety of bean and corn seeds into a container. Prepare dishes of earth toned paints and several different sponge shapes.
Use the sponges to paint desgins on the strip of construction paper. allow to dry. Glue the paper around the can. Place a few spoonfuls of seed mixture into the can; then glue the lid in place. When the glue dries, shake the can to make simple rhythmic sounds.
Family Turkey Project
Send home a turkey pattern (the one I use was given to me out of Teacher Created Materials, #258 Thematic Unit - Thanksgiving) and have each child work with his/her family to decorate his/her turkey any way he/she prefers. Encourage creativity and enjoy what you receive back!
I did not do this project this year, but have a fellow teacher at my school who got wonderful results this year! Mrs. Wandless is a first grade teacher. Here are some examples of what was brought in this year. (These kids just happen to be 2 of my kindergarten babies!!!)
Handprint Turkey Thanksgiving Poem
"Hand-some" Thanksgiving Card. Fingers become feathers for this holiday greeting card.
[ The Mailbox, Oct/Nov 2002, Preschool]
Social Studies:
My Weekly Reader - November/December 2000
Meet Native American Children Today
How Did Native Americans Live Long Ago?
Issue shows pictures of different types of Native American houses such as Navajo Hogan, Plains Tepee, Wampanoag Wigwam, and Iroquois Longhouse.
Draw a picture of the type of house you would have liked to live in if you lived long ago. Have students dictate why.
Read Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons. Discuss Thanksgiving of the past and Thanksgiving as it is celebrated today. Compare how they are alike and different.
Discuss different ways you can say "Thank You" or show "thankfulness." Recall a time when you were thankful for something or said "thank you" to someone.
Science:
We're Thankful worksheet.
Teacher's Helper, Nov/Dec/Jan 1999-2000
Match the prepared foods with their sources and glue on the paper to make a "lift the flap" paper. Discuss the foods they will eat on Thanksgiving on where they come from.
Read The Popcorn Book and discuss where popcorn comes from. Show Indian corn, real corn, discuss the parts of the corn. Eat popcorn for a snack.
Weekly Reader, Nov/Dec 1996
What Foods Did the Pilgrims Eat?
The Pilgrims caught fish to eat. They hunted for wild turkeys and others animals. They gathered nuts and wild berries from the forest. The Pilgrims learned about corn from Indians who lived nearby. Indians crushed the corn to make cornmeal. Pilgrims did too. The Pilgrims baked some cornmeal to make cornbread.
Remove the husks and put the Indian corn in a clear glass baking dish. Fill the dish half full of water and leave it in your science center. Within a week, corn will be sprouting from LOTS of the dried kernals above water line. **Be sure to add water every day of two, and even pour the water off once a week to place with fresh water so it doesn't get slimy and smelly.
Math:
Graph which kind of popcorn you like best after tasting the following flavors: butter, cheese, and caramel.
Make Math storyboards using construction paper and tepee cutouts, canoe and river cutouts, pilgrim and Mayflower cutouts, pilgrim and plantation (house) cutouts. Children can tell math stories by using Thanksgiving stickers that have been laminated.
Match tepees and Indians that have been programmed with your class' specific skill needs. ( I like to use it this time of year to match numerals and set as well as numeral and number words.)
Tepee Toss
I have created a number writing game that I call Tepee Toss as a fun way for my children to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, and numeral writing.
I purchased from Oriental Trading, a set of foam dice to keep in my Math Center. They come in assorted colors.
To play the game, I created a grid with the numerals written at the bottom. The partners take turns rolling the die, counting the dots, and writing the numeral in the corresponding row. The winner is the number that reaches the tepee first.
"Wampum" Necklaces
Use fruit loop cereal to create patterns to make a necklace.
~ Thanksgiving ~ 
Books:
Centers:
Where is Mr. Turkey?
