fun with turkeys

Well, I have successfully posted our turkey blog before Thanksgiving.  I wasn't sure we were going to make it!  We've done two crafts in the past week or so that have helped us decorate and get ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  M's favorite was the apple turkey....

M doesn't always have the patience for activities that require a lot of fine motor work but this kept his attention (I think because it used marshmallows).  For this project you need an apple, toothpicks, something for a turkey face, and small food pieces that can be put on the toothpicks.  We used marshmallows and Cheerios.  If you're health-conscious you could do blueberries or small grapes.  Anything works as long as it goes on a toothpick.  

Here is M filling his toothpicks.  It took a bit longer because he enjoyed putting them on then biting them off....

Here is our finished turkey....

We also did a toilet paper roll turkey that included my favorite- handprints. We made our handprints on thicker cardstock.  M painted them with yellow, orange, and red paint then I cut them out and glued them to the paper roll, which makes the turkey's body.  Unfortunately I can't find the pictures I took while we did this so we only have an "after" picture.  This poor turkey has been a little man-handled and also survived one dog attack so he's a little worn but he's made it to Thanksgiving!

Hopefully we have a few more blog posts coming soon.  We've done a few keep-busy projects since little G has arrived but haven't had time to post about them.  Hoping to get caught up soon!

toddler turkey

Back at Thanksgiving M and I made a few decorations to hang in our kitchen since we were hosting our first Thanksgiving.  M loves to use his paints so I gave him a piece of white construction paper and brush to paint with.  It came out looking like this:

Then I took it and cut it into feather-shaped pieces.  We created a turkey with his painted feathers:

We also did a handprint turkey that came out cute.  This was a Pinterest idea that I found.  When I saw it it was part of a handprint calendar that I'd love to try (each month is a handprint made into something different).  The hardest part was keeping him still while painting each finger a new color.  

My favorite part of these activities is a story I have to share because as much as this blog is for sharing ideas with others, it's also for me to be able to back at.  Before we started this activity I asked M if he wanted to paint.  He said, "paint, paint, paint."  I started getting everything out - his smock, his brush, the paint, etc. and setting it all up.  I lifted him into his seat (he was still saying, "paint, paint, paint") and he looked up at me and said, "happy."  Me too :)