Thanksgiving
Thank You World by Alice B. McGinty and Wendy Anderson Halperin
This gorgeous multicultural book follows 8 families around the world as they go about their lives, showing our differences but more important our similarities as human beings. A simple poem gives thanks for simple things, reminding us to focus on what’s really important. Very simple, short text would make this a quick read aloud for a Thanksgiving or anytime story time!
Sensory Story Time – Thanksgiving
Opening Songs and Activities
Dance Freeze
Tiny Tim
If You Want to Hear a Story
Book:
Everyone’s favorite snowman reminds us what we have to be thankful for. Easy text and bright pictures.
Game:
Feed the Turkey
Flannel Game:
Turkey Feathers Game
Sung to “Are you Sleeping?”
Our poor turkey
lost his feathers.
Let’s all help, everyone.
Do you have a *(red) one?
Come and bring the *(red) one.
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!
Hand each child a feather and have them come up to the board when their color is called.
Credit: Fun With Friends at Story Time
Flannel Story:
Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys sitting on a fence,
The first one said,
“Oh my! I am immense!”
The second one said,
“Just watch me waddle”
The Third one said,
“Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!”
The fourth one said,
“Thanksgiving Day is coming!”
The fifth one said,
“We’d better start running!”
The turkeys could not be found on Thanksgiving Day,
So the poor old farmer had this to say . . .
“I guess we’ll have to eat pizza . . .”
There are so many version of this and I can’t seem to find where I got this one to give proper credit. 😦
Todd Parr is always popular with my sensory story time kiddos. Bright, silly pictures and big concepts made easy.
Song:
Thanksgiving
Sung to Brother John
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving.
Here it comes, here it comes.
Turkey on the table, turkey on the table.
Mmm-good, mmm-good.
Cornbread muffins, chestnut stuffing,
Pumpkin pie, ten feet high.
We were so much thinner,
Before we came to dinner.
Me oh my, me oh my!
Flannel Game:
TURKEY, TURKEY COME OUT AND PLAY!
tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Turkey, Turkey come out and play
What color house are you in today?
Credit: Pre + K Sharing
My kids love playing hide and seek on the flannel board – so I couldn’t help making just one more turkey flannel game.
Game:
Turkey Dance
Each child takes a turn picking a card out of the box. If they get a letter card they say what the color is and what the letter is. If they get a turkey, we all do a crazy turkey dance.
Flannel Friday–Turkey III
TURKEY, TURKEY COME OUT AND PLAY!
tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Turkey, Turkey come out and play
What color house are you in today?
Credit: Pre + K Sharing
My kids love playing hide and seek on the flannel board – so I couldn’t help making just one more turkey flannel game.
Flannel Friday – Turkey II
Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys sitting on a fence,
The first one said,
“Oh my! I am immense!”
The second one said,
“Just watch me waddle”
The Third one said,
“Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!”
The fourth one said,
“Thanksgiving Day is coming!”
The fifth one said,
“We’d better start running!”
The turkeys could not be found on Thanksgiving Day,
So the poor old farmer had this to say . . .
“I guess we’ll have to eat pizza . . .”
There are so many version of this and I can’t seem to find where I got this one to give proper credit. 🙁
Diverse Story Time – Thanksgiving
Books:
Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin
The 12 Days of Thanksgiving: Count the Days Till Thanksgiving! by Jenna Lettice
Diversity:
Thank You, Omu! by #Own Voices Oge Mora takes place in a urban setting with a diverse cast of characters. “Omu” means “queen” in the Igbo language of the author’s parents, but growing up, she used it to mean “Grandma.” This is a great book about sharing and the power of food to bring us together.
Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival by #Own Voices Grace Lin is a great opportunity to share with the kids that other countries have harvest festivals as well. When I read this I used it as an opportunity to discuss similarities and differences in how they celebrate the harvest in the book and how we do with Thanksgiving.
The 12 Days of Thanksgiving by Jenna Lettice riffs off the popular song the 12 Days of Christmas producing a cute counting book filled with pies and turkeys, squashes and apples. The cast of characters is multi-ethnic.
Flannel Game:
Turkey Feathers Game
Sung to “Are you Sleeping?”
Our poor turkey
lost his feathers.
Let’s all help, everyone.
Do you have a *(red) one?
Come and bring the *(red) one.
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!
Hand each child a feather and have them come up to the board when their color is called.
Credit: Fun With Friends at Story Time
Flannel Story:
Five Fat Turkeys
Five fat turkeys sitting on a fence,
The first one said,
“Oh my! I am immense!”
The second one said,
“Just watch me waddle”
The Third one said,
“Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!”
The fourth one said,
“Thanksgiving Day is coming!”
The fifth one said,
“We’d better start running!”
The turkeys could not be found on Thanksgiving Day,
So the poor old farmer had this to say . . .
“I guess we’ll have to eat pizza . . .”
There are so many version of this and I can’t seem to find where I got this one to give proper credit. 🙁
Song:
Thanksgiving
Sung to Brother John
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving.
Here it comes, here it comes.
Turkey on the table, turkey on the table.
Mmm-good, mmm-good.
Cornbread muffins, chestnut stuffing,
Pumpkin pie, ten feet high.
We were so much thinner,
Before we came to dinner.
Me oh my, me oh my!
Decolonizing Thanksgiving: A Toolkit for Combatting Racisma
Flannel Friday – Turkey
Turkey Feathers Game
Sung to “Are you Sleeping?”
Our poor turkey
lost his feathers.
Let’s all help, everyone.
Do you have a *(red) one?
Come and bring the *(red) one.
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!
Hand each child a feather and have them come up to the board when their color is called.
Credit: Fun With Friends at Story Time