Turkey Time!

A couple of years ago, we invited some friends and their relatives over for Thanksgiving dinner. We didn’t know our friends’ relatives well, so we asked ahead of time about the things each person loved to do. We wanted everyone to feel welcome and special, so before Thanksgiving, my son made a unique placemat for each person.

Here’s what he did:

He started with a placemat-sized piece of thick drawing paper. You can find this at most craft stores.
For each person, he made the infamous handprint turkey on the placemat and neatly wrote the person’s name under the turkey.
He used stickers, cut-out pictures from old magazines and his own artwork to decorate each placemat using what we knew about that person. For example, one person loved to work in her garden, so my son drew pictures of flowers, spades, seeds and other “gardening” things.
During our Thanksgiving meal (we did have turkey!), everyone noticed their placemats. Never in my life have I seen grown adults work so hard to keep their placemats clean!
When our guests left, they took their placemats with them.

I was proud of my son for the hard work he put into each, and it was a fun way to make every single guest feel welcome. Hope all of you have a great Turkey Day!!!

Here are some Web sites that my son and I will use this Thanksgiving. I hope they help you, too:

University of Illinois Extension: Turkey Fun (Turkey for the Holidays)
Everything you need to know about turkeys from cooking to carving them. Tons of great recipes for side dishes, a video of a real turkey farm, games, including a “game” that follows turkey eggs to your dinner table, and so much more. I’ll be going back to this Web site more than once!
Kidzone: Animal Facts – Turkey
This is one of my favorite “turkey” Web sites. Here you will find facts, crafts, games, great photos, and more!
National Geographic: Wild Turkey
Information on wild turkey.
First-School: Turkey Craft – Maple Leaves Theme
Scroll down to the bottom for links to more pages.
Pratt’s Educational Resources: Turkey Theme
Ideas for younger children (pre-K through kindergarten).
Education World: Lesson Planning – It’s Turkey Time!
More turkeys facts and crafts for different children.
BioKIDS: Turkey Vulture
Turkey vulture facts.
KiteCD: Thanksgiving
Lots of stuff here. I especially like the “interesting facts” section and the “book ideas”.