Run Turkey, Run!

Gathering Activity: Turkey Hats

We made these adorable turkey hats from Lindsay Blogs.  I love the way they turned out, and as you can tell, so did the kids!  Each hat was unique! You can follow the link to get full directions.   

Circle Time

We read Run, Turkey Run by Diane Mayr.  It is a fun story of a turkey who hides from the farmer on Thanksgiving Day.  After each new hiding place is discovered by the farmer, the children had a wonderful time shouting along with the book "RUN, TURKEY, RUN!"  He finally finds reprieve in a forest of pine trees, until the farmer and his family go to find a Christmas tree.  Of course, he gets away again. 

We also sang one of our favorite Thanksgiving songs, "Mr. Turkey. "

"Said, Mr. Turkey, I want to play. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.
But soon it will be Thanksgiving Day. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.
Folks all say that means great fun, but I think I'll run, run, run.
And hide until the day is done. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble."


Art Activities:

1-Popcorn Turkeys 

We were inspired by this fun idea for turkeys at Everything Preschool.   

Materials Needed:

Rubber Glove (Clear)

Small squares of Multicolored Tissue Paper

Popcorn
Googly Eyes
Glue

 

Directions:

For 3 year olds, this is definitely a mom and child activity.  Using a clear rubber glove, the child stuffed the four fingers with colored tissue paper and stuffed the thumb with red, while the moms held open the gloves. 

Then the children filled the palm with popcorn while the moms held open the gloves.

Then Moms tied the bottom, like you would tie a balloon. 

Last step was to add an eye on each side.

We had children stuff turkeys in two different ways.  Some mixed all the colors together, and others kept each finger an individual color.  Both ways turned out cute.

 

2-Turkey Feathers in Playdough

Our next activity was a more open ended activity.  We were inspired by this activity at Teach Preschool.  We handed each of the children  ball of brown playdough and feathers to explore.  They knew just what to do!  

 
A few of you asked what we do with younger siblings.  Here is a great pic showing a little brother joining in our fun. 

Snack:  Apple Turkeys

The children loved making these adorable turkeys.  I made these my very first year teaching, and can't remember exactly where I got the idea from then, so many years ago.  But our children sure loved making and eating these! 
Games:Hide the Turkey Game

“Hide the turkey, hide the turkey,
in the trees, in the trees.
Don’t let farmer find him, don’t let farmer find him.
Hide turkey, hide turkey! “

Materials Needed: 4 boxes with a picture of a tree taped on and a toy turkey.

Directions: Choose one child to be the "hider."  Choose another to be the Farmer.  The farmer leaves the room. Sing the song. The "hider" places the turkey in one of the boxes. 

The farmer returns and searches in each box until she finds turkey.

Then all of the other children yell “RUN TURKEY RUN!”  The person holding the turkey runs around the room back to his spot. 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!  I am grateful for you and for your support!  Thank you for reading about our adventures each week! 

Ten Fat Turkeys

Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston

Gathering: Turkey Hats 
We found these super cute turkey hats on Family Fun's website.  We made a couple of modifications to better meet the needs of our group.  We used their template to cut out all the pieces, but we stapled in some places that they glued.

Materials Needed: Construction Paper, cereal box rectangles, paper grocery bag, Googly Eyes, Stapler, Glue Sticks

1-Cut out the pieces for the turkey hat BEFORE class, using the pattern found on the Family Fun Website.

2-Measure your child's head and use the stapler to make a headband with the grocery bag strips.

3-Glue the feathers on the back of the hat.  Glue the wings, one on each side.

4-Glue the beak, eyes, and waddle onto the circle face.

5-STAPLE the cardboard neck onto the hat and then staple the face to the neck so that it is 3-dimensional.

6-Wear your hat and do a NOODLE DANCE!


Circle Time: Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston

 "Wibble Wobble, Gibble, Gobble. Do a Noodle Dance! Ten Silly Turkeys sitting on a fence!"


We read Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston. This is a new book to me.  It is a VERY silly book with funny rhymes, bold and goofy pictures.  The kids giggled as each turkey fell off the fence, one at a time, trying to do something really crazy (like roller skate or swan dive).  The length is perfect for our twos and young threes.   There is no moral lesson, no deep meaning, and I don't think it is going to win any awards.  But the pictures tell the fun story and it made our kids (and adults) laugh, and that in and of itself holds merit for me. 


We sang turkey songs during circle time, of course! 

Hello Mr. Turkey (If you are happy and you know it)

Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you, how are you? (clap twice)
Hello Mr. Turkey how are you, how are you? (clap twice)
With a gobble, gobble, gobble and a wobble, wobble, wobble (clap twice)
Hello Mr. Turkey how are you how are you?

Thanksgiving Day

"Said, Mr. Turkey, I want to play. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.
But soon it will be Thanksgiving Day. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.
Folks all say that means great fun, but I think I'll run, run, run.
And hide until the day is done. Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.

Turkey Hunt Flannel Board Activity

I have had this poem since I student taught 16 years ago.  I wish I knew who to give credit for.  

I printed turkey pictures off on the colors of construction paper mentioned in the hunt.  After I said each verse, a child came and chose that color and place it on the board.  (My board is getting pretty matted, I think I need a new one for Christmas).  When the moms were packing up to go home, the kids came back to this activity again.

I'm going on a turkey hunt, just for fun.

Don't need a bow and arrow, don't need a gun.

I'm going on a turkey hunt, so up and out of bed.

I'm looking for a turkey with his feathers painted RED!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. You can come too.

Let's look for the turkey with its feathers painted BLUE!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. It might take all day.

I need to find a turkey with its feathers painted GRAY!

I'm going on a turkey hunt, my eyes are so keen.

I'm sure to spot a turkey with its feathers painted GREEN!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. Id' better not wink,

Or I might miss the turkey with its feathers painted PINK!

I'm going on a turkey hunt, that bird's a funny fellow.

Especially the one with its feathers painted YELLOW!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. I think I see a track.

It must be the turkey with its feathers painted BLACK!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. I'll look all around,

Until I find that turkey with its feathers painted BROWN!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. I'll look all night.

Until I find that turkey with its feathers painted WHITE!

I'm going on a turkey hunt, I've spotted a turtle.

I must keep looking until I find a turkey painted PURPLE!

I'm going on a turkey hunt. It hasn't been boring.

I'm hunting for the last turkey with his feathers painted ORANGE!

Well, I went on a turkey hunt, just for fun ,

And I found those turkeys ~ each and every one!

Art: Handprint Bean Turkey 

I fell in LOVE with this adorable turkey I saw on The Idea Room. I was so excited to have our kids do this one!  Hers were beautiful. But alas, sometimes we do crafts, and they don't turn out the way I thought.  Not that I don't think our children's art work is beautiful, but this time it didn't turn out quite the way I pictured it would.  I think our problem was, we chose to trace the KID's hands for our turkeys.  They were just a little too small to actually tell they were turkeys after we added all the pretty beans and corn.  Or maybe the kids added too much?  Not sure.  But I think the key would have been to use MOMMY's hand and then let the kids create the collages.


Materials Needed: Paper plates, pencils, glue, a variety of beans, lentils, and dried corn.  Spiral noodles for the waddle.  (you don't need the staplers, they were just still there from the turkey hats).

1-Trace a hand (probably a mom hand) onto your paper plate.

2-Apply glue just on the inside of the handprint.

3-Create a collage using the beans, lentils, and corn.

4-Add a turkey noodle waddle.  (Then do a NOODLE DANCE)!

Snack: Turkey Gobbler Fruit Kabobs

Our area was out of melons the week of our Turkey Mommy and Me!  We ate the fun kabobs, pictured, but alas, we had no melon to create the body.  We also had yummy popcorn and pumpkin marshmallows! However what we had planned on making this guy.  You can find the directions here.

Activities: Turkey Pokey and Turkey Hop  

Turkey Pokey (to the tune of Hokey Pokey) Let the children pretend to be turkeys. Have them stand in a circle, and sing: You put your right wing in, You put your right wing out, You put your right in And you shake it all about. You do the Turkey pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what its all about! Gobble Gobble!  (Continue with left wing, Your tail feathers, drumsticks, beaks and of course at the end you put your whole turkey in)!

Turkey Hop (The song and instructions are found at macaroni soup).

A Turkey for Thanksgiving

Gathering Activity:  We read Thanksgiving stories with our mommies. 

Circle Time: We read A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting.  We sang Thanksgiving songs together.

Art Activity: Hand Print Turkeys

Materials Needed: Construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue, googly eyes, feathers, red pom poms.
Directions: Trace both of your child's hands and cut out. Glue on a second sheet of a construction paper. Allow them to glue feathers on four of the fingers on each hand.  Add a googly eye, a yellow beak, and a red pom pom waddle to each turkey.

Playtime Activities: We played 3 Turkey themed games together.

1-Duck, Duck, Turkey (played just like Duck, Duck, Goose) 

2-Turkey Dinner Game

Sung To: " Frere Jacques"

Turkey dinner, Turkey dinner
Gather round,  Gather round.
Who will get the drumstick?
Yummy Yummy Yum stick!
All sit down!  All sit down!

Materials Needed: A turkey place mat for each of the children and a plastic drumstick from our play kitchen food. 

Directions: Choose one child to be the "hider."  The other children close their eyes (with Mommy's help) and sing the song. The "hider" places the drumstick under one of the place mats.  Each child opens his eyes and lifts his place mat to see if he has the drumstick.   The child that finds the turkey hides it the next time around.  Such a simple concept, but the kiddos loved it! 

3-Turkey Hunt: Play Hide and Go Seek with our Moms.  The children hid with their mommies and gobbled like turkeys while one family pair searched for the gobbling turkeys.  We played until everyone had a turn to hunt.

Snack: We held our own little Thanksgiving feast.  We ate turkey shaped sandwiches, cheese cubes, apple slices, pumpkin muffins, and popcorn. Each mommy brought something to contribute to the feast.