1-2-3 Come Do A Thanksgiving Craftivity With Me

I’m always looking for a few things that are quick, easy & fun for my students to do, during that last day before our Thanksgiving break.

With that in mind, I designed these 2 simple and versatile crafts, which are nice “wind things down” activities, for that sometimes hectic time.

First up is a cute owl card. There are 2 pattern options.
One says, “Guess whooo’s wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving?”, while the other one is generic, for students who may not celebrate this holiday: “Guess whooo is wishing you an awesome autumn?”

Children color & cut out their owl, along with the extra hat.
When that top tab on the hat is folded and glued in place, the hat will flip up to reveal a child’s school photo and the answer to the above question: “Me! That’s whooo.”

You don’t have to, but for some pizzazz & 3D pop, add wiggle eyes attached with glue dots. For that “finishing touch”, an extra beak and pair of wings (which also flip up), adds even more dimension.

If you do add the wings, students can write their greeting underneath.
If you decide to skip this step, I’ve provided a hexagon-shaped writing prompt, which is glued on the back.

There’s a blank hexagon, so you can have children complete a writing prompt, as well as a “Happy Thanksgiving” or “Happy fall”, where little ones trace the greeting, then sign their name.

I chose a hexagon shape because that’s one of our “toughies” to remember, so this provides a teachable moment to review it.

Next up is a "Welcome To My Home" activity. This project can also be used generically for fall, as well as Thanksgiving.

Use it as a card for younger children to make, or as a writing prompt craftivity for older students.

Ive discovered that anytime I toss a bit of craftiness into a writing lesson, my students are excited to get right down to business and more happily engaged.

Completed projects make a sweet bulletin board too.

I’ve included a list of 21 writing prompt options for them to choose from.

Besides the writing prompt choices, there are also several patterns for different “keepsake” cards you can make.

Personally, I designed this activity for Thanksgiving; ( “Welcome to my home for Thanksgiving” ) however, I realize some children don’t celebrate this holiday, so I’ve also included a generic “Welcome To My Home” pattern as well.

Choose which template is appropriate for your kiddos or give them a choice.
Templates come in black & white for students, as well as full color, so that you can quickly and easily make an example to share.

I purposely used the word “home” rather than “house” because home has a connotation of a place where you live, which could be an apartment or igloo, while a house is specific.

I’ve also included extra patterns with a bit of blank space on the door and doorstep, so that children can practice writing their address.

As you can see, both activities are an educational and quick,” little something”, you can plug into that often hectic last day before Thanksgiving break.
Easy-peasy for you; super-fun for your students.

Today's featured FREEBIE is a "Fall Leaves" packet, which will help your students practice their reading skills. The emergent reader booklet covers lots of Common Core and reinforces color words. 

Children read the simple sentences (packed with lots of Dolch and word wall words). 

They correct beginning capitalization, add end punctuation and then trace, write and color the color words with a matching color crayon or marker.

A graphing extension, color word matching worksheet and spinner game are also included. 

We'll that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Our church passed out shoe boxes to fill for needy children, so time to brave the chilly weather and go shopping.  

Wishing you a happy-go-jolly kind of day. 

"To get the true value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with." - Mark Twain