Leaf Tail Turkey- Need: blackline master of turkey profile, leaves gathered from outside, glue, brown paint/crayon. Run a blackline master of a turkey profile onto tagboard or manilla construction paper. Let each child paint or color his/her turkey brown. Then let each child cover the feathers/tail of the turkey with leaves that he/she picked. Dry and then add detail with markers, wiggle eyes, etc;

Handy Dandy Turkey- Need: copies of turkey poem (listed below), brown paint, colored feathers (or colored macaroni, or colored paint), tagboard. Let each child dip his/her hand in paint or use paintbrush to paint his/her hand brown. Press onto tagboard. Then decorate the fingers, which would be the turkey's feathers with desired medium such as feathers or noodles. OR you can paint the child's thumb and palm with brown paint and press onto paper. Then paint each finger a different color, chosen by the child, and press onto paper.

This isn't just a turkey.
As anyone can see.
I made it with my hand,
Which is a part of me.
It comes with lots of love,
Especially to say,
I hope you have a very,
Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Fingerprint Turkey-Need: Brown, yellow, green, red, black, orange, blue paint, construction paper, copy of poem(listed below). Let each child dip his/her finger into the brown paint and with hand over hand assistance, help him/her to create a turkey body. Then add feathers on turkey dipping fingers into colored paint. Use q-tip to dot on the waddle and eyes. Use pinky finger dipped in orange to make the legs. Underneath add this poem:

Turkey birds are different,

From sea to shining sea.

And you'll never see another bird

Like this one to you from me.

Can you see what makes him different?

Do you need some helpful hints?

I made him from my very own

Thumb and fingerprints!

Fine Motor

Popcorn Necklace - Need: Popcorn(Try to find colored popcorn, or die your corn with food coloring; let it soak overnight),thread ,large lacing needle. Pop the popcorn according to the instructions on the package. String a needle with thread, and knot the ends of the thread together. Make sure the thread is long enough to make a necklace when doubled in half. Stick the needle thru a piece of popcorn until the knot is pulled up close to the popcorn. Continue to string popcorn onto the needle, until you fill up the thread, leaving about a handful at the end of the thread. Cut the needle off, then tie the thread in a knot at the end of the popcorn. Tie the ends together to make a necklace. There you have a colorful harvest corn necklace!!

Thanksgiving Setting- Give each child a large piece of paper for a placemat and let them decorate the outside border. Provide magazine pictures, or large communication pictures of typical Thanksgiving food (turkey, ham, corn, pie, etc;). Let each child choose food to glue onto his/her placemat. Laminate.

Exploratory/Sensory

Growing corn -Need: Popcorn kernels, a ziploc bag, Dirt, and water. Place some dirt in a ziploc bag, sprinkle enough water to saturate the top part of the soil, and drop in some popcorn kernels. Seal the bag and place it in a sunny window. Look for sprouts to appear within 7-10 days.

Growing Sweet Potatoes - Help children stick toothpicks around the middle of a sweet potato. Fill a glass two-thirds full with water and place the potato in a glass. Have the children check the water level daily and add more water as needed to keep the bottom of the potato covered. In about two weeks roots will appear. Help the children observe the growth each day. Bring in sweet potatoes, one raw, one cooked, and let the chilren compare the three. Explain to the children that sweet potatoes is a food many people eat at Thanksgiving.

Sensory Table Stew-Place items such as: meats, vegetables, forks, ladles, bowls, salt/pepper shaker, etc; and let the children create a Thanksgiving stew.

Cognitive

Counting Corns-Make turkey cards and on each turkey, place a number on his stomach. Around the turkey, place construction paper candy corns to coordinate with the number. Provide real candy corn as manipulatives for the children to count and place on the turkey.

Matching Turkey feathers-Make a circle and attach a turkey head to the circle. On the brown circle, place colored pictures/dots. Then place coordinating colored dots onto clothespins. Have the children match the colored dot to the colored picture. This gives the turkey clothespin feathers.