"The Thankful Turkey"
By: Brandie Valenzuela
So, what's the best part of Thanksgiving? I know -- the
food! However, Thanksgiving is really much more than
that and by taking part in this fun family activity, you can
help your children understand the bigger importance of this
holiday.
This Thanksgiving, create a "Thankful Turkey". Take a
big, brown paper bag and create a body. It doesn't have
to be anything fancy, and you certainly don't have to be an
artist. I did this simply by cutting a big circle for the main
part of the body, long rectangle for the neck, and smaller
circle for the head. I also cut a beak out of orange paper
and a red wavy strip for the wattle. Glue or tape all of you
pieces together to make your turkey.
Next, choose a spot in your home where you can hang
your "Thankful Turkey". In our home, we chose to put
our turkey on the inside of the front door. Hang up your
turkey proudly!
After your turkey is hung (certainly something that our
real feathered friends would not be too happy about),
you will not want to cut out a bunch of colored "feathers"
from paper. We used construction paper for our feathers,
but any colored paper will work. You can even use white
paper and have your children decorate the feathers with
crayons.
On these colored feathers, have each member of your family
writes things that they are thankful for. One way to do
this is to just give each family member a set amount
of feathers and instruct them to write one thing that they
are thankful for on each feather. Another version is to
have each family member fill out at least one a day, at
the end of their day, all the way until Thanksgiving. You
can even set up a basket with extra feathers for guest
to fill out and if you plan to have company over for
Thanksgiving, be sure to have them get in on the fun!
After feathers are filled out, they are to be taped (or
otherwise secured) to the turkey body. Before you know
it, your turkey will no longer be bald, but he will be full
of color and gratitude! Enjoy your "Thankful Turkey" and
be sure to take the time to read what everyone writes on
their feathers. If your "Thanksful Turkey" is just too big to
store for future memories, take pictures of your "Thankful
Turkey" to remember in the years to come.
©2001 Brandie Valenzuela
About The Author:
Brandie is a freelance writing mother of three children.
She is also the editor of the Family First Newsletter --
subscribe by visiting: http://members.aol.com/BMValen/index.html
Also, check out her latest scrapbook & home related auctions:
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/bmvcreations/
By: Brandie Valenzuela
So, what's the best part of Thanksgiving? I know -- the
food! However, Thanksgiving is really much more than
that and by taking part in this fun family activity, you can
help your children understand the bigger importance of this
holiday.
This Thanksgiving, create a "Thankful Turkey". Take a
big, brown paper bag and create a body. It doesn't have
to be anything fancy, and you certainly don't have to be an
artist. I did this simply by cutting a big circle for the main
part of the body, long rectangle for the neck, and smaller
circle for the head. I also cut a beak out of orange paper
and a red wavy strip for the wattle. Glue or tape all of you
pieces together to make your turkey.
Next, choose a spot in your home where you can hang
your "Thankful Turkey". In our home, we chose to put
our turkey on the inside of the front door. Hang up your
turkey proudly!
After your turkey is hung (certainly something that our
real feathered friends would not be too happy about),
you will not want to cut out a bunch of colored "feathers"
from paper. We used construction paper for our feathers,
but any colored paper will work. You can even use white
paper and have your children decorate the feathers with
crayons.
On these colored feathers, have each member of your family
writes things that they are thankful for. One way to do
this is to just give each family member a set amount
of feathers and instruct them to write one thing that they
are thankful for on each feather. Another version is to
have each family member fill out at least one a day, at
the end of their day, all the way until Thanksgiving. You
can even set up a basket with extra feathers for guest
to fill out and if you plan to have company over for
Thanksgiving, be sure to have them get in on the fun!
After feathers are filled out, they are to be taped (or
otherwise secured) to the turkey body. Before you know
it, your turkey will no longer be bald, but he will be full
of color and gratitude! Enjoy your "Thankful Turkey" and
be sure to take the time to read what everyone writes on
their feathers. If your "Thanksful Turkey" is just too big to
store for future memories, take pictures of your "Thankful
Turkey" to remember in the years to come.
©2001 Brandie Valenzuela
About The Author:
Brandie is a freelance writing mother of three children.
She is also the editor of the Family First Newsletter --
subscribe by visiting: http://members.aol.com/BMValen/index.html
Also, check out her latest scrapbook & home related auctions:
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/bmvcreations/
