This First Thanksgiving Day

What you need:

1 tortilla

peanut butter for glue

several pretzels

candy corn

Directions:

1. fold the tortilla in 1/2 and twist to form a Teepee shape.  Attach with Peanut butter and prop on a plate

2. dip several pretzels in PB and place in the top

3. break some pretzels and arrange around the bottom

4. add candy corn for decorations

The pretzels and candy corn could also be put together to resemble an outdoor fire!

I think this might be a good story to talk about how homes are different.  It doesn't matter if you live in an apartment, a mobile home, a freestanding house, cabin or tent.  Wherever you live is your home and it may be different from other homes you see or visit.  

The First Thanksgiving

What you need:

1 large graham cracker

2 rectangle cookies or crackers

2 vanilla wafers or round crackers

for food I used: marshmallows, celery, raisins, cheerios, pretzel

candy corn for a centerpiece

peanut butter for glue

Directions:

1. build the table by putting Peanut butter on the rectangle crackers

2. a tiny bit of PB helps the "plates" remain stable on the table as well

3. add the centerpiece.  A pumpkin candy or bugle filled with skittles would be cute.

4. build food to represent what you like to eat for Thanksgiving.  I used: marshmallows for mashed potatoes, celery for green beans, pretzel pieces for rolls, raisins for dressing, and cheerio pieces for turkey.  Just use your imagination!

Fun book to begin the conversation about what Thanksgiving is all about.  You can talk about sharing, favorite foods, eating with friends and family.  It also allows you to talk about different customs that families have.  You may discover a new tradition that you want to include each year from now on. 

Run, Turkey, Run!

            

What you need:

1 rice cake

pretzels, candy corn, cheerios, raisins

peanut butter for glue

Directions:

1. use the rice cake for the body of the turkey and add peanut butter around the edges and middle

2. add feathers by alternating the pretzels and candy corn

3. break pretzels and make the feet

4. I used a small rice cake for the head but you could use a circular cracker or cookie

5. add cheerios and a raisin for face parts

This is a silly book about a farmer chasing the turkey before Thanksgiving Day.  Children root for the turkey to get away and enjoy the repetition of the "Run, turkey, run!" dialog.  You could take this outside and play hide and seek with your child pretending to be the turkey and you pretending to be the farmer and then switch roles.  

10 Fat Turkeys

What you need:
1 apple or pear
several toothpicks
turkey parts!  cheerios, raisins, marshmallows, pretzels, whatever you have on hand
peanut butter for glue

Directions:
1. slice off a small section of the apple or pear so it can stand alone
2. thread the toothpicks with marshmallows, cheerios or raisins
3. break pretzel sticks and arrange them for feet
4. add a head and face parts for the turkey

This is a popular Preschool book.  Children learn to count backwards from 10-1.  This is fiction so you can talk about how silly it is that the turkeys are wearing clothes, talking and doing things that people would do.  It goes well with the silly turkey you just made.

Stellaluna

 

You will need:
2 oreo type cookies or round shaped cookies
small pieces of one marshmallow
candy corn or small triangle shaped cookie or cracker
2 stick pretzels (optional)

Directions:
1. break on of the round cookies in half to use for wings
2. cut or break the candy corn to use just the tips for a mouth
3. use the small pieces of marshmallow for eyes
4. break the stick pretzels and arrange for feet

Stellaluna is such a sweet story it makes me almost like bats.  It's all about learning to adapt to your surroundings and teaching your friends about your customs.  This is a good book for children just beginning school.  They may realize that not every family is the same. It can be fun or strange to try new and different food you haven't had before.

I Spy a Pumpkin, I Spy a Skeleton

 

For the pumpkin you will need:
1 clementine or orange
a small celery stalk
2 blueberries and a pretzel stick
For the ghost you will need:
1 graham cracker
10 marshmallows
2 small chocolate chips

Directions for the pumpkin:
1. peel the orange and poke the celery stalk in the top for a stem
2. add the pumpkin features with a bit of cream cheese or peanut butter

Directions for the ghost:
1. arrange the marshmallows on the graham cracker in a ghost shape or large triangle
2. add the chocolate chips for eyes at the top
3. microwave for 12-15 seconds
This is a version of s'mores I used to call Ghost Toast because we made it on bread and used a toaster oven.  The fun part of this snack is watching it in the microwave because the marshmallows puff up and it really looks like a ghost!

I Spy books of any kind are a great readiness activity for reading.  Using your eyes to find items in a picture is a good visual discrimination exercise.  These books come in all sorts of themes and I used them frequently to teach vocabulary to English Language Learners.  The pictures are of real objects!

3 Monster Books

 

You will need:
as many tortillas, rice cakes or round crackers as monsters you want to make
pretzels or noodles for hair
round cookies, olives or marshmallows
candy corn

Directions:
1. use your imagination and create a fun monster or a scary one
2. use whatever you have on hand (pieces of fruit or candy if you allow it)

These monster books are good for teaching colors, rhyming and counting.  They are very short and easy for kids to remember and repeat.  I like these monsters because they are not scary. They are silly!  It's fun to make a monster you can eat!

Cock-a-Doodle-Hooooooo!

You will need:
1 tortilla or rice cake
1 slice of cheese
2 apple slices
2 black olives, marshmallow pieces
2 candy corn

Directions:
1. cut the cheese in a triangle shape
2. add apple slices for the eyes, then olive slices with marshmallows inside the holes
3. add the candy corn for the nose

This is such a cute story about an owl who tries to fit in with a group of hens.  He learns how to strut, peck and scratch but cannot cock-a-doodle-doo.  Just when he is feeling discouraged, he spies a rat and earns the hens respect by catching it.  It's great for teaching kids that everyone has something they can be good at and we don't always have to fit in or do what everyone else is doing to be liked or respected.