Preschool Turkeys and Thanksgiving Theme Activities
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Turkey and Thanksgiving Preschool Theme Map
Do you need helping planning your Turkey and Thanksgiving theme? Use the suggested learning objectives and vocabulary ideas found on our Theme Map to help you plan your own Turkey & Thanksgiving Lessons.
Free Turkey and Thanksgiving Preschool Lesson Plan
Sign up below to get a free copy of our sample plans!
Enhance your Art & Crafts Space
Brown is the Color of the Week. Dye your play dough brown (a few different shades if possible). Add feathers, and google eyes to the Art Space. If you have littles you can pre-cut some construction paper "feathers". Scour the thrift stores for Turkey and other Thanksgiving cookie cutters. Add a variety of different shades of brown construction paper to the Art Space this week. Add Thanksgiving Inspired Cookie Cutters, Stamps, Seasonal Color Paint and Crayons to your Art Space this week.
Disguise a Turkey Family ProjectThis is a fun activity to promote family engagement or to do together with the children.
Read the book Turkey Trouble and then get creative and disguise a paper turkey! You can find a free printable turkey and guide in the Storytime Activity: Turkey Disguise Craft here. This is also a fantastic family engagement project for preschools and daycares. |
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Create a Place Mat
Community Member Sheena W. printed the placemats from the Turkey & Thanksgiving Pack for the children in her program to create their own custom placemat.
After each child completed their placemat she laminated them for use during meals. |
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*Paint with Turkey BastersThis painting invitation can be a bit messy but oh so fun! Work on fine motor development while using turkey basters for painting. Use this free B&W Turkey Printable for kids to use with the basters or set up with card stock or paper plates.
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Get Crafty with TurkeysCommunity Member Jessica Freel shared this photo of little turkeys her kiddos made. Love that they used recyclables! Find more turkey inspiration in this post
10+ Turkey Crafts & Activities! |
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Turkey Feather Pinecone Craft
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Make a turkey with a few simple supplies. Using pinecones, feathers, and googly eyes. Your preschoolers can construct a fun little turkey just in time for Thanksgiving!
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Turkey Process Art
Provide students with a brown circle for the body, googly eyes and a nose. Start by gluing all those items to a plain piece of paper and invite the children to use provided feathers to paint with different colors of paint!
Watch how they use the feathers instead of a paint brush and how much fun they have with the process.
Watch how they use the feathers instead of a paint brush and how much fun they have with the process.
More Art & Creativity Ideas:
Pumpkin Pie Play Dough Recipe from Childhood Beckons
5 Fall Senses Fall Play Dough Ideas from One Time Through
Cranberry Dough Recipe from Learn Play Imagine
5 Fall Senses Fall Play Dough Ideas from One Time Through
Cranberry Dough Recipe from Learn Play Imagine
Paper Bag Turkey Puppets featured on Crafty Morning
Enhance your Dramatic Play Space
Many families decorate for Thanksgiving. Provide your students with a box of used Thanksgiving Decorations. You can usually find low cost decor items at thrifts stores (or the Dollar Tree). Don't forget to ask your families for any they no longer need!
Thanksgiving Dinner
Get Ready for your Thanksgiving Feast!
Add some pretend Thanksgiving Day Food items to your Dramatic Play Space. You can add a box of Thanksgiving Holiday Decor as well, include: Thanksgiving tablecloths, cloth napkins, place mats for making the table "Extra" special and Thanksgiving decorations. Allow the children to decorate their space for their Thanksgiving Meal.
The PKPF Turkey and Thanksgiving Activity Pack includes a printable Thanksgiving Dinner set for you to use in your activities. Print on paper and laminate or transfer to felt (see my tutorial here).
Add some pretend Thanksgiving Day Food items to your Dramatic Play Space. You can add a box of Thanksgiving Holiday Decor as well, include: Thanksgiving tablecloths, cloth napkins, place mats for making the table "Extra" special and Thanksgiving decorations. Allow the children to decorate their space for their Thanksgiving Meal.
The PKPF Turkey and Thanksgiving Activity Pack includes a printable Thanksgiving Dinner set for you to use in your activities. Print on paper and laminate or transfer to felt (see my tutorial here).
Pie StandDon't forget the dessert! Use my Dramatic Play Pie Stand Set to create pumpkin pies for your space, or set up a Pie Stand! This digital pack is available in the Pre-K Printables Club Member Area, and is also available for purchase in my shop. Get a closer look at this pack in use!
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Setting the TableSupport children in learning how to set the table with this simple activity.
Print the place setting mat from the Turkey & Thanksgiving pack; set out with dishes for children to practice setting the table. |
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Airport Dramatic PlayMany families travel around the holidays. Whether your preschoolers will be traveling, or hears about others traveling, capture their interest with a fun Airport Dramatic Play invitation.
Add dress up clothes and luggage-as many children may be traveling during this time. This is a great time to add extra photos of families as well. |
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Turkey Dress-UpEncourage your kids to make their own Turkey costumes, There are several fun links to "Turkey Headbands" on-line. Use brown paper bags to make vests, and add feathers for some flair. Add plush Turkeys to your space.
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Adorable Turkey Costume shared by Lisa N.
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Restaurant Play
You can also shift your Thanksgiving themed dramatic play to a restaurant because some families do this as their tradition. Add in Thanksgiving themed foods.
Turkey Farm
Bring out the Farm sets, and let the kiddos practice their hand at running a turkey farm. You can transform your Farm Set into a Turkey farm by making your own Turkey Blocks. Another option is purchasing some small vinyl Turkey finger puppets or Plastic Turkey's to add to your Construction space.
Family Travel
Many Children will be Traveling and celebrating Thanksgiving with their extended families. Be sure to add family dolls, Play Houses, Cars and Planes to your Construction Space this week. Consider purchasing Thanksgiving themed play sets to this space this week. Many companies such as Lego, and Fisher-Price offer them.
Another option is adding Lincoln Logs to your Construction Space if you will be discussing the Pilgrims with the Children in your care. Check out this "Thanksgiving in the Village" project from This Little Project for some inspiration.
Another option is adding Lincoln Logs to your Construction Space if you will be discussing the Pilgrims with the Children in your care. Check out this "Thanksgiving in the Village" project from This Little Project for some inspiration.
Build a Thanksgiving Dinner
Use blocks to build a Thanksgiving dinner. Print out various photos of foods and utensils to tape onto the blocks to set up a dinner.
*Pumpkin Pie Alphabet MatchThese tasty pie puzzles are a fun way to practice matching up lowercase to uppercase letters for preschoolers. Laminate these puzzles for repeat use or try as a cut and paste activity.
Find these in the PKPF Turkey & Thanksgiving Activity Pack. |
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Free Turkey Name ActivityInvite your preschooler to practice identifying the letters in their name and building their name.
There are a variety of ways to use this free Editable Turkey Name Activity. Community Member Sheena W. attached clothespins to the turkey feathers for her kids to clip to the turkey. See more ways to use this activity and grab your free printable on my blog post here. |
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How to Catch a Turkey
Give the child a blank piece of paper with the written prompt asking them how they would catch a turkey with writing dictation, record their answer and have them illustrate their answer.
More Language & Literacy Ideas:
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
How to Catch a Turkey by Alice Wallace
The Little Kids Table by Mary Ann McCabe Riehle
10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
Read: The Very Stuffed Turkey
The book The Very Stuffed Turkey by Katharine Kenah is a fun story about a turkey that is invited to too many Thanksgiving Dinners! What's a turkey to do? Find out his solution with this book then follow up with a fun activity like this Thanksgiving Dinner Patterning Invitation included in the PKPF Turkey & Thanksgiving Pack
Thanksgiving Dinner Patterning
Use our Thanksgiving Dinner Patterning Activity to practice extending a pattern!
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Click here to buy this activity!
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Thanksgiving Dinner Number SortingThis activity is a fun way to explore the different ways numbers can be represented.
Sort numbers 1-10 on each dinner plate, numbers in this activity are represented on Thanksgiving Food in the form of: tallies, dice, fingers, numeral, number word, dominoes and a ten frame. Thanksgiving Dinner Number Sorting Activity |
Click here to Buy this activity!
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Whipped Topping Roll and CountSome children have not yet discovered how delicious pumpkin pie is, however I have never met a child that didn't love whipped topping! Roll the playing cube, count up the whipped topping then add the same number to the pie. You can use the included printable counters or add fun pom poms. This is a fun activity to engage in with children or set up for individual or two children to play. Find this activity in the PKPF Turkey and Thanksgiving Pack
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Color Turkey Matching Puzzle
Practice color matching and color words with these cute little turkeys!
Included in the PKPF Turkeys and Thanksgiving Pack |
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Turkey Hand Math
Start this turkey hand math by tracing your students hands and labeling them with numbers 1-10. Give them popsicle stick "finger" counters to work on one to one correspondence.
Mashed Potato Measuring
Gather cotton ball "mashed potatoes". Working in pairs, have students pile their mashed potatoes into bowl. Use unifix cubes to measure how tall each pile is. Which has more? Which has less?
Turkey in the Straw
Add numbers 0-10 in permanent marker to small plastic/paper turkey figures. Add the turkeys to a sensory bin filled with yellow crinkle paper, shredded paper, or straw. Give each student a corresponding numeral card, and have them go on a hunt to find the matching turkey in the "straw"
Thanksgiving Inspired Sensory BinThis adorable Thanksgiving Inspired Sensory Bin was Created by Erica Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center. She used a Potato Flake Base, and added Corn Meal, Brown Rice, and Stuffing in the Buckets.
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*Parts of a Turkey Identification
Here are two interactive ways to learn about the parts of a turkey. Use the 3-part cards to identify some parts of a turkey, then label the parts on the labeling mat. Both of these activities can be found inside my Turkey and Thanksgiving activity pack!
These activities would be great to engage in after exploring the Zoom in on Turkeys book by Leo Statts. This book has wonderful close-up photographs that children can examine.
These activities would be great to engage in after exploring the Zoom in on Turkeys book by Leo Statts. This book has wonderful close-up photographs that children can examine.
Thanksgiving Sensory Bin
With various dried items such as corn, and different beans or try dying rice brown, orange, and yellow to make a fun Thanksgiving sensory bin.
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Thanksgiving Sink or Float
Sink or float with a variety of thanksgiving items: feathers, cranberries, gourds, and acorns.
Thanksgiving and 5 Senses
Thanksgiving is a time for rich sensory exploration. The taste of cranberries, the feel of gourds, the sound of turkeys, the smell of delicious desserts and endless sights to see.
More Science & Discovery Ideas:
This is an adorable Turkey Sensory Bin from-I Heart Crafty Things
Science and Math are all rolled into this fabulous Turkey Balloon Rocket from-
Growing a Jeweled Rose
Pumpkin pie scented shaving cream from Mess for Less
Create some Homemade Butter for Science this week. Be sure to check out this great tutorial from Little Bins for Little Hands.
Science and Math are all rolled into this fabulous Turkey Balloon Rocket from-
Growing a Jeweled Rose
Pumpkin pie scented shaving cream from Mess for Less
Create some Homemade Butter for Science this week. Be sure to check out this great tutorial from Little Bins for Little Hands.
Turkey Play Dough
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This adorable Turkey play dough invitation was created by Community Member as member Erica Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center.
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Fine Motor Buttoning
Community Members Erica Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center and Tammy B. contributed these photos of handcrafted fine motor button activities!
Thanksgiving Fine Motor Fun
The activities from the PKPF Thanksgiving Fine Motor Fun activity pack are easy to set up and great for keeping little hands busy.
See more from this pack on my blog.
See more from this pack on my blog.
Hot Potato Turkey
Play a fun game of "Hot Potato" using a plush Turkey
Turkey Feather Hunt
Gather feathers and choose a space to hide them either in the classroom, around your school or even outdoors. Invite the children to find the feathers.
Turkey Bowling
Add some faces and feathers to the bowling bins and turn it into a turkey bowl, invite the students to take turns playing.
More Physical Development Ideas:
Incorporate a Fine Motor activity into your Turkey week with this Turkey Fine Motor Activity From-Fantastic Fun and Learning
*Stuff the Turkey Game from Kid Friendly Things to Do
Thanksgiving Traditions
Our Thanksgiving Traditions Set is a great tool for engaging in conversation about what happens during Thanksgiving.
Use the included photo conversation cards to prompt discussions about what children remember about last Thanksgiving, this is a good opportunity to work on recalling information from previous events. If children don't recall try using some of the sequencing pieces from the set or the word bank to support their thinking. After engaging in this activity encourage children to predict what they will do this year for Thanksgiving. |
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Discussion: What Are You Thankful For?
Start by having a discussion on what the word thankful means and why we are thankful. You can then use this as a writing prompt, using writing dictation to record their answers and have them illustrate their answer.
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Go on a scavenger hunt to look for things you are grateful and thankful for!
Turkey Theme Sign-in ActivityWelcome your students to class with this engaging name recognition activity.
Includes a variety of themes and available in the shop! |
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Team Building: Leadership & Self-EsteemGet your group working on Leadership & Self-Esteem with this activity from my Fall Team Building Activities pack. This pack has a variety of ideas for supporting preschoolers in developing team building skills.
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Purchase this resource in our shop!
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Class Recipe BookPre-K Printables Club Members: Log and and click here to download this members exclusive and create a class recipe book, duplicate each child's recipe to create a whole book for the kids to bring home.
Not a member? Learn more here |
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Turkey SnackCheck out this fun snack that Community Member Erica P shared!
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Thanksgiving TreeThis fabulous Thanksgiving Tree belongs to Cathy Meekins of Happy Hands Early Learning Academy. You can see how the kids have added to the tree throughout the week. Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity talk about what we are thankful for. Create a group "Thanksgiving Tree". Have the children tell you who and what they are Thankful for and write their ideas on leaves to add to the tree. At the end of the week send these leaves home. They will become special memories as the children get older.
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More Group & Circle Time Ideas
I'm a huge fan of group art. Check out this Sticky Paper Turkey from Teach Preschool
Visit a Turkey Farm
Find a local place to take a closer look at turkeys! Take along some reference books or the parts of a turkey page to encourage connections in learning
Make a Hand print Turkey
Make a hand print turkey for a great keepsake, add paper feathers that each have a statement about what your family is thankful for.
Write a Thank-You Note
Write a thank you note to someone that did something for your family recently or do a random act of kindness in honor of the holiday.
