Thankful Turkeys

Let me start by saying that I LOVE Christmas.  It is my favorite holiday and I love everything about it.  We take December off of school and spend the entire month focused on celebrating Christ and living out His example to love others.  We are intentional about doing that all year, but it is distinctly special as we celebrate Advent.

That being said, I try to be very deliberate about not skipping over Thanksgiving.  Not only do we spend November talking about what we are thankful for and the many incredible blessings the Lord has granted us, but we also do specific Thanksgiving or thankful crafts as a concrete way of remembering those blessings.  Yesterday, we made our Thankful Turkeys.  It was a fun project that both children loved, and I think the finished products are adorable.  Princess named them "Petunia" and "Picasso."  I'll bet you can figure out why!  

Let's start with Super Tot's "Picasso."  I had everything laid out for him and sat with him to complete his craft.  First, I put a dab of glue on each foot and pointed to where he should place them.  I think he did a fantastic job!  Next, he picked out his turkey's eyes from a sheet of adhesive eyes I picked up over the summer.    

Although he put them both on sideways, I was impressed at his placement.   

I put the glue on the beak and waddle for him, and he placed them on his turkey.

Next, we moved on to the feathers.  We were writing one thing on each feather that he was thankful for. I would ask him if he wanted me to write a specific item and he would say yes or no.  He ended up saying yes to:

1 - Mommy

2 - Daddy

3 - Sissy

4 - Zeppy (one of our cats)

5 - Minky (our other cat)

6 - Trains

I wrote one on each feather and gave him markers and stickers to decorate them.  He loves to use both of these, so he was thrilled.

Once he was done decorating each feather, I put some glue on a small piece of poster board and let him place the feathers on.

After each feather was in place, I pointed to the "middle" and asked him to glue the turkey's body there.  He did a pretty good job!

It's a little cubist in style, but I love it!

Princess was also excited to do her Thankful Turkey.  I had her supplies ready in one of her snack workboxes.

She put red glitter glue "toenail polish" on her turkey's feet.

Then she made a red bow for her head.

She even used a little gold to make a ring for her turkey.  

This was a very simple, yet super fun craft for both Princess and Super Tot.  Here are the finished products!

For more fun fall craft ideas, click here.  

For more Tot School ideas, click here.