Hobbies And Interests
Stuff the Turkey
Have your preschool class play a game that mimics the tradition of stuffing the Thanksgiving Day turkey while also working on their hand-eye coordination. Take a large brown grocery back and stand it up like you would if you weren't putting your groceries in it. Roll down the top of the bag a couple of times to make the opening more sturdy so it doesn't close. Stuff a sheet of crumpled newspaper into each of two brown paper lunch bags. Bunch the tops of the lunch bags close and wrap tape or tie yarn around them to keep them closed. Attach one lunch bag to each of the skinny sides of the grocery bag with tape or glue to give your grocery bag turkey legs. Ball up pairs of clean socks. Have the students take turns trying to stuff the turkey as much as they can in one minute. To stuff the turkey, let the students stand a few yards away from the turkey and try and toss the sock balls into the plastic bag. Small bean bags could also be used to stuff the turkey. The student who is able to get the most sock balls or small bean bags into the paper bag turkey wins.
Pin the Feathers on the Turkey
Instead of playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," let your preschoolers play "Pin the Feathers on the Turkey." In this game, each preschooler will attempt to tape his feather closest to the turkey's bottom. Cut a turkey body shape out of brown construction paper. Cut a big circle and a small circle for a very simple turkey body and head. Decorate the turkey with craft eyes and a beak made from construction paper. Tape the turkey body up on a wall. Have each child trace one of their hands on a colorful sheet of construction paper. Have them cut out their hand tracings and attach a piece of tape to the bottom edge of the paper hand. The tape will work as the pin. Blindfold the children one at a time. Spin the blindfolded child around twice and then tell them to pin the feather on the turkey. The child who pins their feather closest wins.
Thanksgiving Hide and Seek
Add a Thanksgiving twist to the classic kid's game "Hide and Seek". Select a few kids to be the pilgrims; they will be hunting for the turkeys. All the other kids will be the turkeys. Have the pilgrims close their eyes and count to 10 while the turkeys run and try to find a place to hide from the pilgrims. The first turkey found by each pilgrim will take that pilgrim's place in the next round.
Fill the Cornucopia
Send the kids on a Thanksgiving-themed treasure hunt to find all the foods they need to fill their cornucopia. Divide the children into evenly numbered teams. Give each team an empty cornucopia, which can be found at craft stores around Thanksgiving. Give each team a picture list of food items that you have hidden around the room that they must find to fill their cornucopia. You can hide fake plastic food, like the kind you can find at a toy store or you can cut food out from construction paper and laminate it. The first team to find all of the items that they need to fill their cornucopia first wins.