Thanksgiving Activities

Last week we worked on our letter J, but our crafts went along with Thanksgiving instead of the letter. 
We started out by making these super cute Styrofoam cup turkeys.

You can use any size cup and just paint brown.

Once the paint is dry, poke feathers in the back of the turkey and on top.  If the children have trouble poking the feathers through, take a pen and poke some holes in first and then it's easier for them to poke their feathers through.

Then add eyes, gobbler and beak to complete your turkey.

 

 

 



We also made a large thankful turkey.....we had been discussing for the past few weeks about things or people we are thankful for.  They each told me a couple to write down on their feathers and then they decorated them with beads, glitter, stickers, and sequins.

 

Once they were all dry, we put it all together......very colorful and sparkly.

 

 

And finally our Thanksgiving Feast was today.......turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls, apples and pumpkin dessert......yum!!!

I made the cups look like turkeys (idea from Pinterest) and they doubled as place cards.

 

And now I need a nap!

 

Actually I just want to take a moment to say thank you......to my second family......my daycare family!  You all are a true blessing to me and my family and I love each one of you!  The joy that your children bring me each and every day and that as parents, you allow me to spend the day teaching, playing, and taking care of your children......I am truly blessed.

 

And also to my family.......my husband is my rock and definitely very thankful for him and his love and devotion to our family......he provides for us and works hard at work and at home......I love you more than words can say!  Also, very thankful for my children......so blessed to be their mommy!

 

May God bless you all on this Thanksgiving!!!

 

 

Pumpkin Dessert

Ingredients

1 large can Pumpkin Pie Mix

2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick butter (softened)

1 cup walnuts (I used pecans cause that's what I had and not on entire dessert) 

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat pumpkin pie mix, evaporated milk and eggs until well mixed.

Pour into greased 9x13 pan.

Combine butter and cake mix.  Use a fork or your fingers to make sure all the butter is incorporated into the cake mix.

Sprinkler on top of pumpkin mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle walnuts or pecans on top of cake mix (this could be omitted).

Bake for 30 minutes longer.

The top should be golden brown and your walnuts will be roasted.

Serve with whipped topping.

 

I is for Ice Cream

I started writing my post about our turkeys we made and realized I never did our ice cream post.  Along with our igloos, we also talked about ice and ice cream.  So, we made ice cream for one of our project......I do have an ice cream maker, but thought it would be fun to make ice cream in a bag and then anyone can make it at home.  It's really simple.

 

Mix in a Ziploc bag (either double bag or use freezer bags) 1 cup half & half, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Then put that bag in a gallon Ziploc bag that is filled half-way with ice and 1/2 cup salt.  Seal it up, and then shake the bag (double bag if necessary).  The longer you shake it, the better consistency your ice cream will be.  It will take at least 10-15 minutes.

We made 2 batches.  The bags were starting to get cold, so we ended up wrapping a towel around them as they were shaking them.

We added sprinkles and chocolate chips......yummy!!!! 

They thought it was delicious and was fun and quick for them to make.

I is for Igloo

Last week we took a little break from our crafts and I took the week to do some reviewing and some evaluated of where each child was developmentally.......this helps me to know what we need to work on individually.  Anyway, this week we are talking about the letter I and to go along with it we made igloos.  Before starting our project, we looked at several different kinds of igloos online and talked about how they were made.

 

 I gave each child their own box of sugar cubes and glue.......this could also be done with marshmallows and frosting as well.  Sugar cubes were actually tough to find in town.....only one store had them. 

We used a paper plate for our igloo to stay on......worked best for me to put the first layer of glue down to give them a start of an igloo shape.

 They all decided how tall they wanted to make their igloo.

We let them dry to finish another day.

To make the roof, we glued poster board to the top and then glued on more sugar cubes.

They were so proud of their igloos......surprisingly even the littlest ones were able to do this project, I just put the glue on and they stacked the sugar cubes.......great fine motor practice.

I think they did an excellent job and they turned out super cute!