Thanksgiving is just around the corner!! The month of November has flown by. It seems that days are going by so fast. We hope that you have had time to enjoy November and some of the nice days that it brought us. This time of year reminds us of all the special people we are thankful for. Family Night Activities would like to thank each and every one of you for allowing us to share in your most valuable asset.
1…2…3…TURKEY!
Materials needed
5- 2-liter bottles (empty)
Construction paper
Permanent marker
Hot glue gun (adult use only)
Small ball
Scissors
Let’s get the Turkey Bowling started! Plug in the hot glue gun (please make sure to keep away from children). Draw feather templates on the construction paper and have the children cut them out. You will need 5 feathers per bottle. Once the feathers are all cut out, glue 5 feathers onto each bottle. Add two eyes and a beak, now you have 5 turkeys. If the weather is nice, take the five turkeys and the ball and head outside. If it is not nice outside, a long hallway or room will do great. Set the turkey pins up so you can get ready to do some turkey bowling! Have the children stand back and roll the ball to see how many turkeys they can knock down. You can really use this game to talk to the children about what they are thankful for. One idea is to come up with as many thankful ideas as pins someone knocks down. Go ahead and bowl a few frames yourself and share your own thankful thoughts.
To make this game a bit more challenging and fun, blind fold the bowler and see how many turkeys they can knock down without seeing!
Suggested Conversation Starters (these are just ideas and can be altered depending on the ages or developmental stages of your kids)
While making the turkeys, ask the children about their favorite thanksgiving memory or tradition. Don’t forget to share your favorite thanksgiving time.
Talk to the children about the first Thanksgiving and how everyone helped each other
Suggested Movie Titles
On Thanksgiving morning, make some hot chocolate and breakfast and watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade as a family. Relax a bit together before you need to head to the kitchen or out for some more celebrations.
Suggested Bed Time Stories/Reading
The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing
Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons
Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes