Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!  Today we started learning all about Thanksgiving....and it only makes sense to talk about TURKEYS!! 

Ms. Michelle had an indoor circuit set up for us to jump, spin, rock, and carry heavy balls.  Spinning was easily the class favorite, but everyone took turns doing all the activities.  Then we headed outside for a special treat!  Ms. Erin brought this huge box of different colored feathers for us to explore.  We dug through the feathers to find some buried treasures.  Did you notice it was especially windy today?  To the delight of the children, every time someone mixed up the feathers a big gust of wind would carry them across the courtyard.  Red feathers, blue feathers, purple and bright pink feathers......later today strangers might wonder what kind of exotic birds live near the church!  Ms. Michelle had a turkey template and once we gave the turkey eyes and feet, we got to choose some of our favorite feathers to add to the picture.  By the end of the activity,  we had feathers all over us!  In our hair, on our clothes, stuck to our faces.....who knew feathers could be so messy??  Cleaning up was kinda difficult, but everyone was laughing so much nobody really minded!

Our book today was Thanksgiving is For Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland.  In the book, the children talk about all the things that they are thankful for.  They were thankful for their families, their teachers, their pets, for playing outside, and for food.  Our class talked about what it means to be thankful and how lucky we are to have all the things that we do.  We are going to be talking all week about being "thankful" so be sure to use that new vocabulary word at home too.

Before we sat for our art project, we went on a leaf collection walk.  We gathered red, orange, yellow, green, and brown leaves in a bucket.  Some were big and some were little.  Ms. Tiffany and I are thankful for all the beautiful trees surrounding the church.  So much variety, and so many pretty colors, in such a little space.  We used the leaves as feathers for our hand print turkeys.  If your child's turkey looks a little plump, it probably means that they probably had wiggly fingers while we were tracing!

We also started making a class turkey.....but he has lost his feathers!!  Please help us make him some more by decorating the feather we sent home today.  Use magazine clippings, drawings, words, or pictures to include things that you and/or child is thankful for.  The children are all so excited about lunch with Mommies and Daddies on Thursday.....we can't wait to show off for you!!