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Preschool Syllabus: Thanksgiving & Turkeys

This week and next it's all about Thanksgiving and Turkeys at our house. 

our fact board - i record the new facts big buddy learns and
then he "reads" them to daddy
We won't be going too in-depth in any particularly area. We've got a rather large assortment of books on the history of Thanksgiving, it's traditions, and the silliness of turkeys.  One literacy activity we will definitely be trying is making our own version of these Thanksgiving story bracelets.

WRITING CENTER ADDITIONS

coloring sheets (via abcteach.com), turkey stickers,
paint strip cutting.  
skills practiced: fine motor, creativity, social studies

LEARNING "TRAYS" - I rotate these, setting out about four a day from which the boy's can choose.
pumpkin alphabet game (pumpkins: painted "plaster of
paris" from ice cube mold)
skills practiced: letter recognition
color matching turkey feathers game (turkey is a painted paper
plate with construction paper details, the feathers are clothes 
pins covered with paint samples)
skills practiced: comparing, matching
melissa and doug thanksgiving puzzle
*puzzles like these are pretty easy for big buddy but i've found 

thepictures themselves can lead to great discussions*
skills practiced: fine motor, spatial reasoning, social study knowledge

pumpkin pie playdough (cream-of-tarter playdough with food
coloring and pumpkin pie spice)
skills practiced: fine motor, creativity, spatial reasoning, sensory
corn cob and turkey prints
skills practiced: fine motor, creativity
transferring water with turkey baster
I was surprised by the amount of concentration and coordination it
 took big buddy to use the baster, it really is a great activity for
developing hand control*
skills practiced: fine motor, understanding of volume, 
tweezing correct amount of candy corn on to playing cards
skills practiced: fine motor, rational counting, numeral recognition
"turkey" and feathers counting game (the "turkeys" are 
painted styrofoam craft balls)
skills practiced: numeral recognition, fine motor, rational counting
scooping "cranberries" in to marked cups ("cranberries" are
dollar store vase filler) 
skills practiced: fine motor, seriation, understanding of volume, 
This should keep us pretty busy but there are also a few crafts I hope we find time for - there are so many fun ways to make a turkey.  :)

Comments

  1. Can I just say, YOU ARE AMAZING! These ideas are fantastic!

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  2. I so love all that you did! What great ideas! I hope you will link this post to my Thanksgiving Traditions link up!

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  3. I LOVE that paper plate turkey idea!

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  4. I love these ideas - especially the alphabet game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow what a fantastic list of fun ideas and crafts to do to celebrate Thanksgiving! Would you please share these with my readers for Fun Stuff Fridays? I'd love to showcase you great ideas!

    http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/11/introducing-fun-stuff-fridays.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love all of your activities! They're so interactive and good for working little minds.

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  7. I love your trays. The turkey with the clothes pins is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  8. do you have a printable for the candycorn tweezing numbers. thanks
    ymann68@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would love the printable for the candy corn cards too or did you just buy them? Where do you get the trays you use?

    ReplyDelete
  10. What fantastic ideas! I especially love the paper plate turkey. We'll be doing some of these this month for sure. :)

    www.raptormama.com

    ReplyDelete

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