Stephany Springer

Thanksgiving Activities For The Classroom and At Home



Posted: Friday, November 10, 2006

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Thanksgiving is fast approaching this year. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year to celebrate because the activities are endless. It is a great time of year to truly look around and be thankful for all that you have and celebrate the beauty of fall at the same time. As a teacher and a mom, I am on the lookout constantly for activities to fill this time of the year. It is important to really engage students and get them excited in the classroom. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that allow teachers to do some of these type projects. There is also that week where you have the kids under foot at home and you are desperately in need of entertainment to get your kids to stop bothering one another or quit fighting over the tv. So here are a few ideas I have used in the past and some I have found to use this year. Traditional Hand Turkey

From the time we have babies, we have handprints for every holiday. I love it because it allows me to go back and compare. The great thing is older kids can also trace their hands or you can do the traditional stamp or painted hand. My advice is if you are going to do the traditional handprint turkey that you take it to the next lever. Place this poem on the paper beside the turkey print and laminate the paper as a keepsake card. Here is the poem: This isn’t just a turkey

As You can plainly see

I made it with my hand

Which is part of me

It comes with lots of love

Especially to say

Thank you for all you do and

I hope you have a very

Happy Thanksgiving Day Let The Kids Cook

Kids love to be involved in cooking in the classroom and at home. There are several desserts and side dishes that kids can help out with during this time. Any search on the Internet will list a ton. Therefore, I am going to only give two examples. The first is a dessert. You will need Ritz Crackers, a Container of chocolate icing, Hershey kisses and candy corn. Allow the child to smooth the icing on the cracker. Then arrange candy corn on the back edge of the cracker to form tail feathers. Place a Hershey kiss in front of the feathers to form a turkey. For older kids, you can even have a dab of icing on top of the kiss with another candy corn stuck to it for a beak for the turkey. The kids will just like creating. They don’t have to look perfect. The other dish is every kid’s favorite: macaroni and cheese. The recipe actually comes from the September 2006 Family Fun Magazine. First you cook a 1 pound bag of elbow macaroni until it is tender but still firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking pan with butter. After the pasta cools, allow your child to spoon a third of the pasta into the baking pan, then pour in one cup of hal-and-half and four to six slices of American or Cheddar cheese. Then add two more layers of pasta, half-and-half and cheese. Then place Ritz crackers in a bag and crush them. Sprinkle crumbs on top of the pasta and cheese and bake about 30 minutes. Sing, Sing, Sing

There are some great little songs that kids will love making up hand motions and dancing to. The first is called Mr. Turkey. Here are the words:

I am mister turkey turkey turkey

I am mister turkey big and fat

On my tail are feathers feathers feathers

On my tail are feathers what you think about that

When I walk I wobble wobble wobble

When I talk I gobble (gobble gobble gobble) The second is Gobble Gobble:

Gobble, gobble, gobble

Who said that?

Turkey Gobbler, big and fat.

Gobble, gobble, gobble,

What did he say?

Eat me on Thanksgiving Day! Have A Feast

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks, but it is also one of those holidays that centers around food. Why not have a feast in your classroom. There are some great templates for pilgrim and Indian hats on the internet. You can also let the children make their own placemats and laminate them for the big day. Also check out crayola.com for crafts for the table. They have centerpieces and place setting tags, etc. Get the kids involved with all the decorating and serving of each other. It is a great lesson of the first thanksgiving. Again, these are only a few suggestions. There are many more out there, so get going. Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and enjoy creating lasting memories with the kids in your life.
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