Thanksgiving is already upon us, and although I know most people take a break from school during this week, I figured you might need some fun activities to keep your littles occupied while you madly cook 863 dishes in the kitchen (especially since the Macy’s Parade is canceled this year! Dang you Covid!!!) So grab a fork and lets dive in to ALLLL the turkey activities! Bon appetite!
–Tasty tailfeathers color sorting: I printed and colored this cute little turkey then laminated it so we can use it again. I placed it in front of my little on his high chair tray and gave him a handful of Fruit Loops (minus the purple ones). Then I showed him how to sort the colors onto the turkey and had him try! When he was done, I let him eat them as a special treat! I got the idea from Pinterest!
–Thanksgiving feast sensory play: My littles had such a blast with this one! You just pour a large jar of unpopped popcorn into a cake pan, add some Thanksgiving-ish play food and play pots, pans, spoons, bowls, etc. and let them explore!
–Stuff the turkey fine motor practice: Print out a cartoon turkey and tape it to an empty water bottle. Then give your little pom poms to put in the bottle either with their hands, or with tongs (you can even count them as you go to practice their numbers!) I got this idea from Little Learning Club.
–Turkey feathers in a strainer fine motor practice: I gave my little a pile of colorful feathers and a strainer, then showed him how he could poke the feathers in the holes. It was a tad tricky for him since the holes weren’t round, but he and his brother ended up getting quite a few to stick! LoL Then they decided it would make a fun hat… hahaha
–Playdough turkeys: I made a turkey out of playdough and googly eyes for my little, then gave him colorful feathers to stick in it to make a tail! I got the idea from Early Learning Ideas then simplified it for toddlers!
–Nausamp: maple cranberry porridge: I thought it would be fun to try out some “traditional” Thanksgiving food this week with my littles (read: things they made at the first Thanksgiving) and this one was quick and easy so we gave it a shot! It’s Native American porridge and was actually quite tasty! You just simmer 1 1/2 cups of coarsely ground cornmeal with 2 1/2 cups of water and 1 cup of fresh cranberries (cut in half) until the porridge thickens. Then add in 1/3 cup of real maple syrup or honey and sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Technically this was listed as a dessert, but we totally made it for breakfast! LOL The sweetness of the syrup and tartness of the cranberries was really yummy! I got the recipe from Rise and Brine– their post has a whole list of traditional Thanksgiving foods too if you’d like to try more!
–Hand print turkey Thanksgiving placemat: Grab a sheet of orange or yellow construction paper and trace your little’s hand in the center. Make the hand print into a turkey by adding eyes, feet, a beak and waddle then let them color the turkey and decorate the rest of the page. Add “Happy Thanksgiving” at the top then laminate (if you have one) and use to brighten up your Thanksgiving table!
–Paper plate turkey: Cut out construction paper feathers in purple, yellow, orange, red and brown. Cut out a turkey body in brown. Have your little glue the feathers to a paper plate, then glue the turkey body on top. Add legs, eyes and a beak. My little decided to also decorate his turkey with markers, which is totally fine! Let them be creative, right!? For my preschooler, I just drew the feathers and body on pieces of construction paper and had him cut them all out and glue them in place. He also drew his own turkey face on…with “scary teeth”…hahaha
–Supply/shopping list:
- unpopped popcorn
- fake food
- toy dishes
- water bottle
- pom poms
- feathers
- fruit loops
- playdough
- googly eyes
littlelovesandlearning.com 
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