Thanksgiving Storytime

Thanksgiving is only 10 days away and since I will not be reading in next Sunday's storytime, I took the opportunity to celebrate thankfulness yesterday.

Thanksgiving Storytime Line-Up:

Thanksgiving Song
(Tune: "Twinkle, Twinkle little star", Adapted from Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that)

Thank you, thank you, very much
For everything that I can touch.
Thanks a lot for nature’s food.
And for when I’m feeling good.

Thank you, thank you very much.

For moms and dads and friends and such.

I'm a Great Big Turkey Song
(Tune: "I'm A Little Teapot", By Jean Warren from Preschool Express)

I’m a great big turkey
‘Cause I’m well fed.
Watch me spread my feathers.
Watch me bob my head.

When I strut around
I waddle, waddle, waddle.
And when I talk
I “gobble, gobble, gobble”.

I’m a great big turkey
And I’d love to stay.
But Thanksgiving’s coming.
So it’s time to run away!

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes, illustrated by Doris Barrette

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson, illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner

I also created a flannel board with the help of a co-worker for this book using an old lady puppet that looked exactly like this. As she would eat an item in the book, I would remove it from the flannel board and put it in her mouth. I think next time I do this, I wouldn't use the book at all but the illustrations are so great it's hard not to!

Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

An Awesome Book of Thanks by Dallas Clayton (you can read the book online here)

Thankful Turkey Craft:

The "Thankful Turkey" craft we made after storytime was inspired by this idea from Amazing Moms.

For pre-storytime, I glued clothespins onto autumn colored cardstock. Once dry I hole-punched the top corners and tied twine that I found to each corner so that it would hang evenly. I also used cut out turkeys and large feathers/leaves from construction paper.

Using leaf stickers, paper turkeys, feathers, and crayons, the kids decorated their "Thankful Turkey" however they wished.

Once they finished decorating, they wrote or drew pictures of what they were thankful for on the paper leaves. I also recommended finding pictures of what they were thankful for at home and clipping them to their turkeys as well (see first example above).

What three things are you thankful for this year?

LBD is thankful for her mom, dad, and Elmo. Naturally.

image sources: Thanks for Thanksgiving, I Know An Old Lady.., Feast for 10, 'Twas the Night, An Awesome Book of Thanks