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! 

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.