Thanksgiving Activities

Yesterday the kids did some activities to help them prepare for Thanksgiving.  We started by reading a story about the first Thanksgiving.  Then we made a turkey that I found in a folder of stuff my grandma gave me.  The kids used water colors to paint a turkey, then used black glue to trace the outline of the turnkey.  It was supposed to make a neat looking turkey, but ours didn't turn out too neat looking.  Our black glue was more of a gray and it was too watery so that it spread too much. 

This is my grandma's sample glued to a piece of brown construction paper.

Here is a picture of how one of the kids' turned out.

Our next activity came from a new blog I found.  The kids took coffee filters and colored them with markers.  Then they sprayed the filters with water and set them aside to dry.  Meanwhile they took construction paper and made a turkey (circle head and smaller circle body, beak, waddle, legs, and eyes).  When the filter was dry they cut it in half and glued their turkey body to the filter making it's tail feathers.  I think these turned out cute.

For our last activity we read a short rhyming, repeating book about turkeys being all over the farm.  The kids colored turkeys and hid them throughout the house.  Then they wrote a sentence similar to the book: Turkey by the ______ and made a short book and went on a turkey hunt.  I love finding ways to get the kids excited about writing. 

Also, all month we've been making a gratitude chart.  Every morning I asked someone to tell me something that they were thankful for.  The trick was it had to be something new, something that no one had mentioned before.  Here's what they said:
Braedi--talents, the gospel, gratitude
Corbin--animals, puff pancakes, stoplights
Dyllan--my family, friends, clothes
Ephram--bikes, my mom and dad, firetrucks
Faythe--Jesus, swing sets, Heavenly Father
Jonathan--Ashlee, books, pickles
Ashlee--food, my husband, my garden
I'm thankful for this time of year where we can focus on our blessings.  I'm looking forward to our feast tomorrow.  Happy Thanksgiving!