I’ve been really trying think of good holiday traditions for my kids. Christmas is easy to have traditions, but Thanksgiving can be a bit tougher. One tradition that I really like is making a Thankful Turkey.
It was really simple to set up. I made a turkey body out of construction paper and glued it to white paper on our easel.
He looks a bit naked without his feathers, so I made some out of construction paper too.
I sat down with my 3 year old, J, and I talked to him about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and that it’s important to start thinking about the things we are happy we have.
I asked him to start thinking of things that make him happy and the he’s glad he has.
When he came up with each thing, I wrote it on a feather.
He then practiced his gluing skills and used a glue stick to attach the feathers to the turkey.
At first he came up with things like garbage trucks, toys, and his baby owl.
All of those are absolutely fine, but I did ask him to think of some people that he loves.
He then started naming off different family members and added each.
Now, our turkey may not look all that pretty, but he made it the way he wanted to without a lot of direction from me. I believe that children’s artwork should be totally theirs without interference from parents or teachers. So even though our turkey’s feathers aren’t quite right, J loves the turkey he made all by himself!
I have more feathers and we’re going to add a few more every night until Thanksgiving. His turkey lives in his playroom now, so he can remember the things that he’s grateful for.
I plan on taking off the leaves and placing them in an envelope with his name and year. That way, we can look back and see all the things he’s been grateful for over the years.
I really want some more Thanksgiving traditions for my family. Tell me, what traditions do you have in your family?
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Amanda
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I think the turkey is beautiful! But even more important is what he is learning from this project – to be grateful for the things in his life. I love the idea of saving the “feathers” and putting them in an envelope with the year! What a great way to remember what was important to him at this age of his life! 🙂
Thanks Emma! I love his turkey too…it makes me giggle. We don’t keep very much stuff around here, but the feathers are something that I’m never getting rid of!
I love the way you put this craft together for your child and let him decide how to put the feathers on himself! The turkey is adorable! I loved your post so much I featured it in my KBN gratitude round up over on http://www.mamashappyhive.com 🙂 Have a wonderful day!
Awesome! Thanks Vanessa!