Thankful Turkey...or As Crafty as I Get!

This year a friend gave me a great idea: make a turkey craft where you write things you are thankful for on the feathers.  What an awesome lesson in a house where we often have to discuss gratitude and graciousness!  My friend found a turkey template on the Internet.  Done!  Then she had her kids decorate him.  Done!  Then she "free-handed" some really great looking feathers for the kiddos to write all the things that they were thankful for.  Um...roadblock!  I'm a terrible artist and even worse with scissors.  Once my daughter asked me to draw Santa Claus and when I was finished she said "Mommy, why did you draw a dog?"  I blame it on being a "lefty."  But, I can trace and cut along the lines, so we made turkey feather hands.  This actually turned out to be pretty cool.

I traced each family member's hands and then we had forty "feathers" for us to write on.  Plus, it will be a nice keepsake of the kids' hands when they were ensy wensy little kiddos.  Sorry, had to throw that in!  So, here's what you need:

1 turkey template (or draw one if you are that skilled)
Crayons or markers for coloring and writing
Fall-colored construction or craft paper
1 pencil
Glue stick

Trace hands on construction paper and cut out.  Have each person write 10 things that they are thankful for on their finger/feathers.  My son was thankful for the dog that bit him, motorcycles, trains, God and Jesus, about in that order.  He was not thankful for his sister, no matter how many times I suggested it.

Glue hands to the back of the turkey.  It helps to start at the top with the smaller hands and fan out with the larger hands.  Tape finished product to coveted spot on refrigerator and admire its loveliness.

Not bad, right?  The kids had fun making it and I thought it was a good way to introduce the "real" concept of Thanksgiving to pre-schoolers.  Incidentally, if you are looking for a slightly more grown-up craft, check out this awesome fall wreath!  It looks so cute and simple that I'm actually considering giving it a shot.  Maybe...