Flannel Friday: Thanksgiving Post #3: We Eat Turkey

This song is sung to the tune of Frere Jacques, and it got onto my radar courtesy of everythingpreschool.com. I had some trouble finding suitable clip art for some usual Thanksgiving foods, so I chose these instead. Hopefully, someone somewhere eats them on Thanksgiving.

We eat turkey,

 We eat turkey.

Oh so good,

Oh so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, 

Always on Thanksgiving.

Yum, yum, yum!

Yum, yum, yum!

We eat mashed potatoes,

 We eat mashed potatoes.

Oh so good,

Oh so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, 

Always on Thanksgiving.

Yum, yum, yum!

Yum, yum, yum! 

We eat corn,

 We eat corn.

Oh so good,

Oh so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, 

Always on Thanksgiving.

Yum, yum, yum!

Yum, yum, yum! 

We eat squash,

 We eat squash.

Oh so good,

Oh so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, 

Always on Thanksgiving.

Yum, yum, yum!

Yum, yum, yum! 

We eat pumpkin pie,

 We eat pumpkin pie.

Oh so good,

Oh so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, 

Always on Thanksgiving.

Yum, yum, yum!

Yum, yum, yum!

Dinner's over,

Dinner's over.

We are stuffed! 

We are stuffed!

What a great Thanksgiving, 

What a great Thanksgiving 

Yum, yum, yum, 

Yum, yum yum!

(I feel awkward without a definitive ending to a song, so I tacked this last verse onto the end. I haven't decide yet whether I'll need to use it, but I like to have it on hand just in case!)

Need some more Thanksgiving ideas? Check out my Flannel Friday post from last week.

This week's Flannel Friday host is Cate at 1234 Storytiming. Also check out Flannel Friday's boards on Pinterest, and the list of previous Flannel Friday round-ups at So Tomorrow.

Gettin' Crafty Thanksgiving Post

I am once again taking a break from my regular craft posts to share two Thanksgiving crafts I put together for this week.

1. Sugar Cone Cornucopias

The idea for this craft came from the Family Fun website, but I adapted it slightly to make it easier for me to do with a potentially large group.

These are the supplies I provided:

• Sugar Cones
• Mixed hard candy
• Hershey's Kisses
• Yarn in three colors 
• Fabric leaves
• Plastic baggies

I cut the yarn into small pieces and sorted the candy into baggies ahead of time to prevent a problem we usually have of one or two adults taking as much of the supplies as they can at the start of the activity, leaving none for children who show up a bit later.

The instructions were as follows:

1. Place a few leaves in the cone.
2. Fill cone with candy. 
3. Tie colorful yarn around the cone.
4. Place cornucopia in plastic baggie to take home.

Though the craft attracted a handful of younger kids, it was mainly interesting to tweens. Family Fun provides video instructions for Sugar Cone Cornucopias here.

2. Turkey Mosaics

This craft is something I came up with at my previous library a couple of years ago. I can't remember whether I actually had kids show up for it, but I've modified the idea to suit my current group of after school kids. I am writing this post before I do the craft with the kids, but here are my plans.

Supplies:

• Turkey outline
• Construction paper, pre-cut into small squares
• Glue and glue sticks

The instructions are very simple. Basically, the kids will color the turkey's head and feet and then fill in the feathers with the paper squares. If I have a chance to get some Q-tips and paper plates, I might have them apply the glue that way instead of allowing them free reign with the bottles of glue. Though I don't really restrict most of my crafts by age, I'll be surprised if anyone under age 4 is willing to sit there long enough to finish the entire turkey. We shall see.

Gettin Crafty will be back to normal next week, with my post about Magnetic Poetry.

6 Birthday Books for Kids

	11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass Leo and Amanda are doomed to repeat their shared birthday until they resolve their fight.
	Happy Birthday to You! by Dr. Seuss A birthday card from Dr. Seuss to the reader!
	Happy Birthday from Carolyn Haywood A range of happy, sad, and silly birthday stories.
	Staying Nine by Pam Conrad Heather likes being nine, and decides not to celebrate turning ten.
	A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats Peter has some trouble mailing his birthday party invitation to his friend Amy.
	Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-made Catastrophes by Lenore Look Alvin Ho frets over everything that could go wrong at a birthday party.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 11/15

I changed the routine today, and I think that was a mistake. I'll probably go back to the usual way of doing things next week.


Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big  

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: I Look Like This by Nick Sharratt (1992)
This was a favorite at story time back in the Spring, so I brought it back today. Still a success.

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It (a cappella)

Book: Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco (2007)
I didn't realize Patricia Polacco had a short, toddler-friendly book like this, but what a find! This was a great interactive experience, and provided the opportunity to say shhh just when we (read: the adults) got a bit noisy. I will definitely use this book again - what a nice change from my usual farm animal books.

Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (a cappella)

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and Shoulders

Song: Hands Are For Clapping 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Turkeys
I had the kids pretend to waddle and say "gobble, gobble, gobble" each time a turkey went away, and that was fun, but the ending went over like a lead balloon. Still, it's my only turkey rhyme right now, so I'm kind of stuck with it unless I find something I like better.

Song: ABCD Medley 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

A full description of this, and all my weekly story time programs can be found here.