Our Thankful Turkeys

We've been cooped up in the house for a few days (only because it's been super cold) so today we made some thankful turkeys! They turned out pretty cute.

I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to extend the idea a little. I was looking for some great fine motor activities for Myla. Clothespins are always great for that. And the turkey idea was perfect for this week.

Here is how we made them…

We had some leftover cardboard from our cardboard castle we made on Saturday…

I love having cardboard boxes around the house to make stuff! This castle was Myla's idea. Sadly it only lasted about 3 days…little brother was a little too rough.

I just drew a turkey pattern on the cardboard and cut it out. I recommend using your best pair of scissors if your cardboard is thick. I didn't have a good pair at home. All my good ones are at school!

Then I gathered some clothespins and asked Myla to name things she was thankful for and I wrote them on the clothespins….

Funny because the first 3 out of her mouth were "the pilgrims, all the Indians, and autumn leaves." I had just told her the story of The First Thanksgiving earlier this week so that must have been fresh on her mind. ha ha :)

I explained how all of this was possible, the Pilgrims and Indians, the leaves etc…and that lead her to being thankful for JESUS.

Then she wanted to name everyone in our family. Next she wanted to name each individual friend so we simplified with "all my friends!" and of course she is thankful for her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Cox. I clipped them on the turkey as we wrote them.

After writing on the clothespins, I had Myla take each clip off one at a time to paint with watercolors.

I gave her two paper plates, one to paint on and one for drying.

While she was painting, I made the beak, waddle, and feet out of foam paper. I glued on some googly eyes on small white circles for the eyes.

She was concentrating so hard on painting. :)

Little brother, on the other hand, just had fun painting his plate and mixing up all the colors.

When the paint was dry, I had Myla take each clothespin and pin them on the turkey. I tried to let her figure out which way they went on the turkey so there were 6 "feathers" on each side. She did pretty good!

We just had to add a bow and eyelashes on her turkey so she looked "more girlish."

We didn't want Noah to feel left out so we helped make his too. He couldn't quite do the clothespins yet so Myla got a little extra practice clipping his feathers on for him. He was able to tell me what he is thankful for by me asking "Are you thankful for…mommy? daddy? Jesus?" etc. He came up with "Mickey Mouse" and "Doc McStuffins" all on his own. :)

Here is Noah's turkey!

We added the bow tie just so it was clear that this one was a boy!

We had a lot of fun making them today. I am enjoying these days off for Thanksgiving break where we can do arts and crafts in our PJs!!

Honored.

I have one word for this week. Honored.

Thank you so much to my awesome co-workers for naming me Teacher of the Year at McAuliffe. I am truly honored to represent our amazing school.

And I guess that is just the reason why I feel so honored. Have you been to our school?! It is the BEST elementary school around with classrooms full of incredible teachers. We are blessed to have supportive parents and fantastic students. McAuliffe is a place of high expectations where we know how to work hard and play hard. I love my school….

I am able to do the very best job that I can because of the incredible support our school provides. It is awesome.

Here are a few pics taken on Friday when they revealed Teacher of the Year…

I absolutely LOVED the reveal…My daughter came into our library carrying a gorgeous bouquet of flowers with my son following closely behind with an envelope (gift card to my fave restaurant inside!). Then my mom, aunt, sister and father-in-law all walked in behind the kids. Truly a surprise!

Introducing Myla to the staff (most of them know her already, but she will be in kinder there next year!)

This year, we had a great TOY committee who made it all possible. Complete with a variety of bundt cakes for everyone! 

 It was already on the marquee!!

Me and my beautiful sister. Once an amazing 2nd grade teacher herself!! Now she stays home with her adorable kiddos with one on the way!!

We had to be sure to take pics for my husband, who couldn't be there. Preparing for the first home basketball game…Ah, the life of a high school coach!

So, to stick with our ONE WORD theme….the word HONORED really sums up the week. It's not easy being a teacher at times but receiving a little positive recognition goes a long way and I am grateful and appreciative. 

THANK YOU!