Author: TCR Staff

Classroom Activities, Holidays, Teacher Resources

Giving Thanks: An Easy Classroom Craft

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Thanksgiving provides us with a great excuse to sit on the couch all day, overeat, and maybe catch a game or two (or a parade!), but it’s also the perfect time to stop and reflect on the things in our lives that we’re most thankful for.  

As much as I enjoy the holiday, our house never gets the attention it deserves for Thanksgiving. We’re usually too exhausted from taking down the Halloween decorations and busy making plans and space for the soon-to-be Christmas explosion that besieges our house annually. We do, however, have a couple of turkey-themed decorations that make it onto our walls and shelves in November; and our hands-down favorite is a turkey our daughter made in the first grade. She’s off at college now, but her “Giving Thanks” Turkey still lives at home on our mantle above the fireplace. It’s not a complicated craft, or even all that original, but it’s a reminder to all of us to stop and be thankful for the blessings in our lives. Like my daughter almost 14 years ago, I’m very grateful for my family, my health, my friends, ice cream, and my toys.

I encourage you to create your own “Giving Thanks” Turkey with your students. It’s a fun snapshot of a moment in time, and hopefully something that will find a place on a shelf in their own home one day.

This craft only requires a few materials (shown above):

Materials

  • precut “feathers” made from construction paper of various colors
  • paper plates (orange plates look great, or you can use white and have students color them any color they want)
  • toilet paper rolls 
  • googly eyes
  • small plastic or paper cups (3-ounce cups work great)
  • construction paper scraps for beaks and wattles

Procedure

  1. I always think it’s best to start an activity like this with a group discussion about what it means to be thankful and why we should be thankful for certain things and people in our lives. It’s surprising how many young students have never been asked to stop and reflect on this.
  2. Often, it helps to create a classroom list of all the suggestions. A list will help to get the wheels turning and help with spelling.
  3. Allow each student to choose nine feathers. On each feather they should write one thing that they are thankful for.
  4. Demonstrate how to attach the feathers to the “top” of a paper plate (the final turkey will have the bottom of the plate facing forward). Start with the top feather (in the 12:00 position). Glue works best, but a stapler could be used. Add two more feathers (in the 11:00 and 1:00 positions) so that the turkey looks even and balanced. Continue to add the remaining 6 feathers, taking care to leave the bottom third of the plate featherless.  
  5. If necessary, color the toilet paper roll, and then glue it to the bottom of the plate. If you’re able to fit a stapler inside the toilet paper roll, a staple or two really helps to secure the two pieces together. The turkey should now be able to stand on its own.

Cut out a beak and wattle and, along with two googly eyes, glue everything in place. Add the cup to the turkey’s head for the final pièce de résistance. You can also make the hat out of construction paper if you’re feeling extra crafty.

We have found that we sometimes need to place a little tape on the back of the turkey to keep it from leaping off our mantle, but attaching a weight inside the base of the toilet paper roll would more than likely produce similar results. 

Happy crafting! This Thanksgiving, we hope this activity generates some important conversations in your classroom and some fun “Giving Thanks” Turkeys for your students to share with their families.  

Giveaways, Miscellaneous, Teacher Resources

Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!

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Happy National Teacher Day! To help celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, we want to thank all you hard-working teachers out there who have persevered through a challenging, life-altering year of teaching!

We’re giving away a $50 gift card to 5 lucky teachers. Just head over to our INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAY POST, like the post, follow us (if you’re not already), and comment which of our two newest décor themes is your favorite!

Contest ends Friday (5/7/21 11:59 PM PDT). Winners will be announced Monday. Good Luck!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER CONTEST

Classroom Activities, Holidays, Parents, Teacher Resources

Easy Easter Paper Crafts

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Here are two easy Easter crafts you can do with your kiddos using materials that you most likely already have. We’ve included directions for handprint bunnies and mosaic eggs.

You’ll need just a few materials for each craft:

  • construction paper or craft paper
  • scissors
  • glue stick
  • pencil, pen, and marker
  • hole punch and string (optional)

We got the idea for this cute handprint bunny activity from the One Little Project blog. To make the bunnies, start by tracing your hand on the paper. (Note, if you’re using craft paper, you may need to fold the paper in half and glue it together if the design is only on one side.)

Tip: Trace your fingers wider than they are; otherwise the ears and paws of the bunnies will be too skinny.

Cut out the handprint. Make a deeper cut between the pinky and ring finger so the space lines up with the space in between the thumb and index finger:

You may need to cut the other spaces between fingers a bit so they line up with other. Then fold the thumb and pinky fingers down to create the rabbit’s “arms.” Then cut off the middle finger so you’re left with two bunny “ears”:

Using a marker, draw the nose and insides of ears:

Next, use a dark pen to draw in the eyes, whiskers, and mouth:

Finally, use the pen to draw “feet”:

For the mosaic eggs, draw an egg shape on paper and cut it out. Also cut small squares of construction paper or craft paper.

Glue squares to the egg shape. Don’t worry if some of the squares go past the outline of the egg; just trim them off at the end.

Once the egg is covered in squares, trim any excess square edges off. You may wish to punch a hole at the top of the egg and hang it from a window or wall.

Classroom Activities, Holidays, Parents, Teacher Resources

Family Fun Science Activity for the Holidays

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Looking for a fun, easy craft to do with your kiddos this season? Here is a super simple activity that parents can do with materials that are most likely already around the house. Salt crystal ornaments are pretty to decorate with, and you can also discuss the science behind the growth of the crystals.

The only materials you need are

  • salt
  • chenille stems
  • scissors
  • jars or other containers
  • clothespins
  • a pot for heating water (you can also just use hot tap water)

Start by creating designs with the chenille stems by bending and cutting them into different shapes.

You can get creative and use multiple stems to create 3D shapes:

Add an extra piece of a chenille stem on the end of your ornament so that the clothespin has something to hold onto while still being able to submerge your ornament completely in the water. You could also just attach an ornament hanger at this point.

Prepare the salt water solution. (Heating water on the stove makes the process go more quickly, but you can also use hot tap water.) Use as much water as you need to be able to completely fill the jars. As the water heats up, pour salt in a bit at a time and stir to dissolve.

As more and more salt is added, the water will eventually not be able to dissolve any more salt. You will see the salt stay at the bottom of the pan. It’s now ready.

Pour the salt water solution carefully into the jars. (Please note, if you heated the water on the stove, the jars will be VERY hot once the water is poured in. Please use caution when touching them.) Carefully add the ornaments, one per jar. Make sure the clothespin rests at the top of the jar to keep the ornament suspended in the solution.

Salt crystals start forming pretty quickly on the ornaments. You should be able to see a nice layer of crystals after about an hour.

Why is this happening?
When salt is dissolved in water, the water molecules separate the salt molecules. The added energy (heat) is what helps break the bond apart. As the water starts to evaporate in the jars, the salt molecules start to bond together again. This is called ionic bonding. As the salt crystals form and fall to the bottom of the jar (because they are heavier than the water), some cling to the chenille stems.

Leave the ornaments in the jars for about 24 hours. You can also try different lengths of time to see if that changes the amount of crystals that form. Then gently remove the ornaments and let dry completely.

Once dry, hang the ornaments on your tree using the long stem that was used for the clothespin, or attach ornament hangers. You can also hang them in windows or other areas to add some fun holiday décor around the house.