Thanksgiving {Turkey Day}

We get to spend Thanksgiving with grandmas, grandpas and cousins next week, so we are doing our week of Thanksgiving preschool a little early! Today we had our friend preschool and had a fun Turkey Day!

• Turkey Hats … this was a perfect gathering activity.
  1. Print out a fun turkey coloring page. I used an old copy I had from my student teaching days. Click here for another great coloring page. 
  2. Let the kids color it with lots of color!
  3. Cut it out and write “Turkey Matt” or “Turkey Sue” on the front.
  4. Add a 2” paper headband.

• Read “Run, Turkey, Run!” by Diane Mayr
  1. My kids think this book is hilarious. The farmer, of course, wants turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey just wants to get away. He thinks if he acts like the pigs or the ducks or the horses, then the farmer won’t find him. I love the consistency as each of the animals say, “Run, turkey, run!”
  2. Have the kids help say “run, turkey, run!” throughout the book.

• Preschool Journal Page
  1. Practice writing “Turkey”
  2. Draw a picture of a turkey
  3. Add turkey stickers to the page.

• Turkey Puppets & Songs
  1. The kids loved holding these turkey puppets to sing our songs.
  2. I found these little felt turkey stickers at Michaels.
  3. Add a craft stick to the back.
  4. Songs to sing:

     Turkey Dinner (sung to the tune: Frere Jacque) Turkey dinner, turkey dinner Gather round, gather round Who will get the drumstick? Yummy, yummy drumstick All sit down. All sit down. Cornbread muffin, chestnut stuffin’ Pumpkin pie, 10 feet high All of us were thinner before we came to dinner. Me, oh my! Me, oh my! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Turkey Ran Away Oh my goodness! (put hands on cheeks like you’re surprised) The turkey ran away! (run turkey puppet in front of you) What shall we eat on Thanksgiving Day? (put hands out to the side, palms up like you’re asking a question) *Each time you sing it, let one of the kids choose which food they would have instead of turkey!

 

• Pattern Block Turkeys
  1. Cut out a simple turkey body from brown paper.
  2. Add a beak, gobble, and googly eyes.
  3. Tape the turkey to the table (so it won’t wiggle).
  4. Let the kids use pattern blocks to create feathers for their turkey.
  5. NOTE: we talked about symmetry, so the kids tried to make the feather blocks the same on each side to make them symmetrical!
• Run, Turkey, Run Game … by now the kids are ready to wiggle!
  1. Find a good place for the kids to run around. Outside if the weather is good. It was raining here, so we have a permanent race track around our living room and kitchen table.
  2. Start the kids off by saying “Run, Turkeys, Run!”
  3. Change it up by saying:
     • Jump, Turkeys, Jump!
     • Freeze, Turkeys, Freeze!
     • Crawl, Turkeys, Crawl!
     • Hop, Turkeys, Hop!
     • Walk, Turkeys, Walk!

 

• Turkey Word Families
  1. Print out these adorable word family turkeys from First Grade Parade.
  2. Cut out several colorful feathers.
  3. I wrote my own word families on the blank turkeys (a little simpler for preschoolers)
  4. We used our magnetic letter tiles to make new words.
  5. Have the kids put a letter next to the word chunk, then copy it onto the feather. Don’t worry if the word is not real, just compliment them on coming up with a rhyming word!

• Colorful Rice Crispy Turkeys
1. Make a batch of rice crispy treats.
2. With buttered hands, make several rice crispy balls. Cool on wax paper.
3. Insert 5 toothpicks into the rice crispy ball making the turkeys feathers.
4. Have the kids string Fruit Loops onto the toothpicks.
5. You could also add a candy corn beak and chocolate chip eyes.

T is for Toothpicks

When we do preschool at home, I’ve noticed it helps to start off the same way every day … even if it’s just me and my kids. So this is how we always start preschool.

• Sing “Here We Are Together” … click here for words and music.
  1. The kids like that we get to say all of our names in the song.
• Sing “The ABC Song” … today we clapped when we got to letter T.

• Toothpick Ts
  1. Give the kids two toothpicks (I got this box of 1000 at the dollar store)
  2. Ask them to try to make a letter T with their toothpicks.
  3. See if they can change it to make a lowercase T.

 

• Pointing out Ts with toothpicks
  1. You could use any story, but I had picked out “Alice the Fairy” by David Shannon and it worked out just right. Lots of upper and lowercase Ts.
  2. Give the kids one toothpick.
  3. As you read the story, have them use their toothpick to point to Ts.
  4. I kind of overemphasized the T sound on some of the words, so they’d recognize the sound and be able to find the Ts.

• Tape your T page
  1. I drew a big T on my 2-year-olds paper, and my 4-year-old did his own.
  2. Give the kids several toothpicks and pieces of tape (just stick them to the edge of the table for them to grab)
  3. Let them tape their toothpicks to the letter T!

• Playdoh & Toothpicks
  1. Bring out the playdoh and add some toothpicks!
  2. My kids had fun making arms and legs, lollipops, barbells and flowers.
  3. Lots of fun for the imagination

 

• Make toothpick juice popsicles … we make these a lot, but they’re perfect for a toothpick day!
  1. Pour juice into an ice cube tray (fill a squirty bottle with juice and let the kids do it without any mess!)
  2. Cover the ice cube tray with foil. Press it down so you can see where the sections are.
  3. Poke a toothpick into each section.
  4. Freeze, then pop out and enjoy your juice popsicles!

 

• Toothpick Scratch Art … I got this pack of 4 in the party favor at Target before Christmas. You can also find them on Amazon.
  1. My kids love these!
  2. Use a toothpick to draw letters and pictures on the rainbow scratch paper. The black scratches off to show the colors underneath. So cool!
  3. I just drew a large T and will let them color it however they want.

T is for Tools

• Read “Alphabet Under Construction” by Denise Fleming … what a cute book! A mouse uses several tools and techniques to construct the ABCs.

 

• Tile the letter T … just like the mouse in the book!
  1. Cut out a large block-style T from heavy paper or thin cardboard (like a cereal box)
  2. Use a tape measure or ruler to measure your T (just like the mouse “measures the M”)
  3. Paint the T with a mini roller if you want (just like the mouse “rolls the R”). Try a little paint roller like this! Or check your local hardware store. 
  4. Let dry. Or skip painting altogether.
  5. Cut out 1” squares of colorful scrapbook paper (or use real 1” tiles!)
  6. Glue the tiles onto your T (just like the mouse “tiles the T” in the book)

• Read “Building a House” by Byron Barton … my 2-year-old daughter loved this book the first time we read it. Bright pictures and a very simple story explaining how a house is built from the ground up!
• Tool Song … what a perfect, fun song to sing for Tools! To the tune of “Here we go round the Mulberry bush” Click here for music.

  This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails, This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning. This is the way we turn the screw, Turn the screw, turn the screw This is the way we turn the screw, so early in the morning. This is the way we saw the wood saw the wood, saw the wood, This is the way we saw the wood, so early in the morning! This is the way we build a house, build a house, build a house. This is the way we build a house so early in the morning!

• Take a Tool Game
  1. Gather several tools (or borrow some from a friend!)

     hammer	screwdriver	tape measure
     wrench	sand paper	pliers
     ratchet	level	drill

  2. Talk about what each tool does and let the kids handle each one. Of course, you should also talk about how to be safe with each one!
  3. Place the tools on a cookie sheet and cover with a cloth.
  4. Have the kids close their eyes and remove one of the tools.
  5. Say the following rhyme:

     Tools are useful, as useful as can be! One tool is missing. Which one can it be?

  6. See if the kids can guess which tool is missing (even if they guess, “the one that pounds nails!” or “the one that makes things smooth!”)
  7. Show them the tool and repeat!

• Hammering Tees
  1. You’ll need a large piece of styrofoam.
     • TIP: You can cover the surface with packing tape to cut down on small, loose pieces making a mess … or use a large lump of clay!
  2. Use a tool perfect for pounding … a toy hammer!
  3. Hammer several golf tees into the styrofoam, they will pound in easily.
  4. For extra fine motor practice, let your kids try balancing a marble on the top of each tee!
  5. NOTE: we didn’t have styrofoam or tees, so we hammered screws into a big cardboard box. Worked just as well and the kids loved it!

• Home Depot Kids Workshop
  1. Don’t forget about this free kids workshop offered the first Saturday of each month from 9am - 12 noon.
  2. My kids love love love going to the kids workshop every month. They are sooo kid (and parent) friendly.
  3. Home Depot gives the kids a free apron, project pin, wooden project kit and supplies all of the tools needed (hammers, glue, nails, sandpaper…) to make the project.
  4. Check out the next upcoming project here.
  5. NOTE: Lowe’s also offers kids workshops. Info here. We just don’t have a Lowe’s nearby.

Toothpicks

• Tape your T page … with toothpicks!
  1. Write a large letter T on a piece of paper.
  2. Cut several pieces of tape. I just stick them hanging off the edge of the table so my kids can grab them when they’re ready.
  3. Let them tape toothpicks along the lines of the T.

  

• Toothpicks & Playdoh
  1. Use toothpicks while you play with playdoh.
  2. My kids had fun sticking them in like flowers, arms and bug legs, lollipops and little mini barbells.
  3. Use them to write letters in the playdoh.

  

• Juice Popsicles … use toothpicks to make juice ice cube popsicles!
  1. Mix up your favorite kind of juice (we used apple juice)
  2. Carefully pour it into an ice cube tray. I pour the juice into a squeezy bottle so the kids can squirt the juice in themselves without making a mess!
  3. Cover the ice cube tray with foil.
  4. Poke one toothpick into each ice cube section.
  5. Freeze for several hours. We usually make these in the morning so they’re ready for afternoon snacks!
  6. If you twist the tray a little, they pop right out. Yummy treat.

• Toothpick Puzzles … this would be a little too hard for my preschool kids, but if you have older kids, these puzzles are fun to try and figure out. Or I may show my 4-year-old how to solve one so he can stump his Dad!
• Toothpick Hors d'oeuvres … make snack time fancy by poking toothpicks into some T foods! Suggestions:
  1. bite-sized tuna or turkey sandwiches
  2. tangerine … peeled and cut in bite-sized pieces
  3. turkey cubes
  4. cherry tomatoes
  5. cheese tortellini
  6. tater tots … with ketchup dips of course.

Trains

Making Learing Fun has excellent ideas and printables for a Train theme. It is based on the book "Freight Train" by Donald Crews. I picked it up at the library and printed out a few of the activities.

We had a fun T is for Train day.

• Read “Freight Train” by Donald Crews. Available here.

 

• Train Patterns … click here for printables from Making Learning Fun.
  1. Print out several train patterns and train cars (they come in the same colors as the book!)
  2. Use the train cars to recreate the pattern!

   

• My Color Train booklet ... I love how this little booklet copied the same train in the book.
  1. Print a blank train booklet here.
  2. Cut along the solid, middle line and tape the train together.
  3. Color each of the train cars to match the book.
  4. Then fold it up into a little color book to read together.

 

• Train Word Tiles
  1. Print out the ready-to-use word tile pages here.
  2. Use letter tiles (or we used Scrabble letters) to match the letters for each color word.
  3. The pages have lower-case letters and the Scrabble letters are upper-case, so my 3-year-old had a hard time matching them. No problem. I just used a sharpie to write a small upper-case letter in the box, then he could match them. Now that he’s 4, he has no problem matching upper and lower-case letters.

• Easy Train Lunch … love this simple idea from Giggles & Crayons
  1. Make your favorite sandwich.
  2. Cut a notch from the top corner.
  3. Add banana slice wheels and a teddy graham conductor!
  4. I would go ahead and use the cut-out piece as a coal car and add a couple more banana wheels
  5. Add a pretzel stick train track (glued with peanut butter)

Teeth

My 6-year-old had a no-school day so we did a couple of Teeth projects you could use during T week.

• Tooth Painting
  1. Draw a large smiley mouth on a piece of yellow construction paper.
  2. Give the kids toothbrushes and white paint and let them "brush" their teeth until there is no more yellow showing.
  3. (I did have to remind my 1-year-old to brush the paper teeth, not her real teeth ... a little confusing!)

• Floss Painting
  1. Give the kids a length of dental floss and a plate with some paint on it.
  2. Holding both of the ends, dip the floss in the paint, then dip it on white paper. Makes some neat line paintings.
• Food Experiment
  1. While they were doing these projects we talked about why we need to brush and floss our teeth everyday.
  2. Offer the kids 1-2 Oreo cookies without a drink.
  3. Look in the mirror and see how the cookies stick to their teeth.
  4. Offer the kids 1-2 apple slices.
  5. Again, look in the mirror. Their teeth should be much cleaner.
  6. Point out that some certain foods stick to our teeth more and we should brush more after sweets and sticky foods or eat them with meals to limit their sticking to our teeth.

• Tooth Chart
  • Show the kids this tooth chart from the American Dental Association.
  • They have 10 teeth on the top and 10 on the bottom.
  • Look in a mirror and see if you can see each of your teeth matching the chart.

   

• Great Tooth Brushing Books
  1. Read “Brush Your Teeth Please” by Leslie McGuire … a great pop-up book with moving toothbrushes and floss to practice on the animal’s mouths. Highly recommended for little ones learning to brush.
  2. Read “Clarabella's Teeth” by An Vvombaut … Poor Clarabella can’t play like her friends because she’s still brushing all of your crocodile teeth. Have the kids pretend to brush and brush and brush their teeth as you say “she’s brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing and brushing her crocodile teeth!”

• Tooth Brushing Chart
  1. Print this free brushing chart from Colgate.com (click the image)
  2. Color the sun and moon each morning and night that you brush your teeth for four weeks.
  3. Maybe the kids could earn a new toothbrush!

Snack Idea ... Apple Smiles. Spread peanut butter on two apple slices. Sandwich them together with 3-4 mini marshmallow in between, so it looks like a big toothy smile.