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Are you looking for an easy way to bring some seasonal fun to your classroom while keeping learning on track? These fun turkey projects for kindergarten can help your students practice important skills while taking part in some Thanksgiving-themed fun!
Hands-on projects are always a great tool for learning in kindergarten, but they’re especially helpful during the busy weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break.
– Channel Seasonal Excitement: It feels like kindergarten students are riding a wave of holiday excitement from Halloween until winter break finally arrives. Hands-on projects can help students channel some of this excitement into worthwhile learning activities.
– Fine Motor Practice: While our students have come a long way with their fine motor skills by November, they can always use more practice. Hands-on projects are a great way for students to improve their hand strength and coordination.
– Hands-On Learning: As students continue to learn new concepts at lightning speed, it’s helpful to give them a chance to apply what they’re learning. Hands-on activities are a great way for students to review important skills.
If you look for turkey projects on Pinterest, you’ll quickly discover that there are an overwhelming number of options! Since time is limited during November, I thought I would narrow it down to three of my favorite turkey projects for kindergarten. You and your students will love these activities!
This is one of my favorite turkey projects for kindergarten! This 3D turkey craft is a great way for students to practice fine motor skills while learning more about gratitude. This can be an abstract concept for students, so this activity gives students the chance to learn more about what it means to be thankful for something.
Students will create a paper turkey with colorful feathers. The template is made so that it can sit upright on a shelf or table. On each feather, students can write something that they are thankful for. It’s always so fun to see what students come up with!
Since these 3D crafts can sit up on their own, they make a perfect classroom decoration for November! When it’s time for students to go home for Thanksgiving break, they can take their creations home to use for a table decoration. The best part is that this craft makes a special kindergarten memento.
If you’d like to take a closer look at this project, be sure to check out my blog post that highlights this 3D turkey craft for kindergarten.
This is another turkey project that can double as a special kindergarten keepsake for your students to take home. This Thanksgiving placemat gives students another chance to reflect on what they’re thankful for as they write and illustrate a sentence that will be attached to the placement.
The rest of the space on the placemat is reserved for a sweet poem and a handprint turkey! To make the turkey, you will need brown paint, along with a variety of other paint colors. Using a paintbrush, you can add brown paint to a student’s palm. Then you will add colorful paint to their fingers for the turkey’s feathers.
You can let students choose the colors they want for each feather or stick with the same combination of colors for each student. Whichever is easiest for you! Requesting the colors they want on each finger is a great way for students to practice color words!
Once a student has their hand painted, they will press down on a white piece of paper. (This helps the colors pop!) After the paint has dried, students can use markers to add the rest of details to the turkey and then attach it to their placemat.
This handprint mat is just one of many fun activities in my Thanksgiving Unit for Kindergarten. Be sure to check out my blog post that highlights all of the fun turkey and Thanksgiving activities in this thematic unit.
This treat is such a fun way to end a turkey thematic unit or to celebrate Thanksgiving together. This treat is easy to make ahead for students to decorate in class.
What You Need:
To make the treat, you’ll first want to add the butter and marshmallows to a large microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for two minutes, then stir the butter and marshmallows together. Quickly add and stir in the crispy rice cereal before the mixture hardens. Then butter your hands and grab small handfuls of the mix, forming them into small balls.
At this point, you could add four to six toothpicks to each ball or have your students take it from here. After the toothpicks are added to the treat, students can place fruit loop cereal on each toothpick in patterns of their choice. This is a great way to review patterning with your students!
To finish the turkey, students can add M&M’s for the eyes and candy corn for the beak. They can push these into the ball and the candies will stay.
After students have had a chance to make their treats, you can invite them to tell a partner about their turkey. They can identify the type of patterns they created on each turkey feather. They can also compare and contrast how their turkeys are similar and different. This is a great way to spark discussion and encourage vocabulary practice!
This turkey treat is just one of many activities included in my printable turkey unit. Be sure to head over to my blog post that shares even more turkey crafts and themed learning activities in this kindergarten turkey unit.
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these turkey projects when you’re looking for fun ideas to include in your November lesson plans.
These alphabet books will have students dive deep into learning about each letter of the alphabet while eager to see what activity they get to complete next!
