With two days left until Thanksgiving, this was a wonderful day to celebrate all that we are grateful for.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Icky Bicky Soda Cracker*

BOOK:

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Turkey Wore His Rainbow Feathers
(filed under Turkey Feathers in my flannelboard files)

Pattern from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes
Song from Everything Preschool

Here’s a turkey. (Place the turkey on the flannelboard.)
But he’s missing something!  What is he missing? (wait for audience to answer)
Feathers!
What color is this feather? (Bring out the red feather)
Red!  That’s right!  Let’s put it on the turkey.  (Place the feather on the turkey.)
(now sing, to tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress)
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather all day long.

(Continue adding color feathers and singing)

Last Verse:
Turkey wore his rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers.
Turkey wore his rainbow feathers all day long.

You can use as many feathers of different colors as you would like.  Since I was doing this with infants, I just did the generic rainbow colors as seen in the first photo.

BOUNCE: “Smooth Road to London Town” from A Smooth Road to London Town: Songs from the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program by Kathy Reid-Naiman

BOOK:

Over the River and Through the Wood: A Song for Thanksgiving by Lydia Maria Child.  Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

TICKLE: These Are Baby’s Fingers*

NURSERY RHYME:
This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee! wee! wee!
All the way home.

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*\

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
 
Biscuit is Thankful by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Down on the Farm by Marrily Kutner  (It has a turkey in it)

HOW IT WENT:
I liked Thanks for Thanksgiving as a story, but I did paper clip two of the pages together to make the story a little bit shorter.  While I usually try not to alter the books in any way, for these rhyming stanza books sometimes I find they work better for the younger crowd that way.  This was my first time using the Turkey Wore His Rainbow Feathers flannelboard, and that was a really great one.  I like finding new ways to incorporate concepts into my storytimes.  Over the River and Through the Wood is another book that I clip the pages on — this time the double page spreads that show grandfather and grandmother getting read for Thanksgiving dinner.  I show the first one, but then clip the others.  If I were sharing this book one-on-one with a child, I wouldn’t do that, but I think it flows better for me to now show the images in between.  I also sang that book, so that was fun.

ATTENDANCE: 25 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music