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| Gobble! Gobble! Gobble! |
With just a week to go, it's not too late for fowl songs
and movement opportunities!
- What could we eat for the dinner?
- What does a turkey say?
- Where’s the turkey hiding?
- What are the turkey parts?
First, let’s identify the turkey parts: tail feathers, wing, head, beak and wattle
(that’s the flap of skin that hangs from above the beak downward.) Use a picture. And what does a turkey say? Sure, gobble gobble is the most popular – but listen to how real turkeys sound.
To practice making that sound, relax all
your lower facial muscles, shake your head vigorously and make a guttural sound,
letting your lips just flap. Keep
practicing – it’s pretty funny! Kids love it!
Now let’s get our little turkeys on their
feet!
ONE
FAT TURKEY SAYS… (spoken)
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| the Turkey Huddle! |
Two fat turkeys say gobble gobble gobble!
Three fat turkeys say gobble gobble
gobble
And they gobble gobble all the way home!
WHAT TO DO: Start with all children standing around the perimeter of the room. For each of the first 3 lines, hold up the appropriate number of fingers, then flap your turkey wings while taking small steps toward the center of the room. Once everyone is crowded in the center, STOP, say the 4th line. Then everyone turns outward and waddles back to the edges of the room!
Do it AGAIN! Preschoolers and Toddlers love this simple activity! We're counting, we cooperating, and we're having fun! Couple it with the next song:
Do the turkey run! Run, run, run!
Do the turkey gobble: gobble, gobble,
gobble
It is lots of fun: gobble, gobble, gobble!
Now flap your wings! Flap, flap, flap!
Like the turkeys do! Flap, flap, flap!
Then hide from the farmer, before he
catches you!
WHAT TO DO: Hop, then run in place. To
gobble, put your pointer finger on your chin, letting your forearm hang
down to make a wattle (see top picture). Sway your upper body back and forth. Flap your wings (bent at the elbow as in the
picture). Then cover your eyes and scootch
down to hide from the farmer. Remember, kids think if they can’t see you, you can’t see them! Repeat!
I have to admit, this is one of my
favorite songs! We've even done the Turkey Hop as a pre-dinner, work-up-an-appetite-dance at our family feast!
THANKSGIVING’S
COMING
Tune:
“Going on a Picnic” by Lynn Freeman Olson
The
original is on my “HUM: Highly Usable Music” cd, but you may have heard the
Raffi version? The lyrics here are mine:
Thanksgiving’s coming, gonna have a
feast!
Family ‘round the table, what shall we
eat?
Will we have some turkey?
KIDS REPLY: Yes, we’ll
have some turkey!
Thanksgiving’s coming, yum yum yum!
WHAT TO DO: First, teach the children their singing parts: the reply and the last line.
This is a zipper song – just zip in a
new food and sing it again. Cranberry
sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie – whatever the children
suggest.
See the reaction pictured when I got silly and after their reply I sang, “mashed potatoes with chocolate sauce…!” Just keeping them on their toes. Pumpkin pie with mustard got similar response!
See the reaction pictured when I got silly and after their reply I sang, “mashed potatoes with chocolate sauce…!” Just keeping them on their toes. Pumpkin pie with mustard got similar response!
And finally,
a flannelboard song – yes, I LOVE flannelboards. See my June 2012 blog for the skinny on
making a flannelboard. For the house
pattern, go to the Song of the Month page on my website for “Little Mouse,Little Mouse” – and make a turkey to hide!
tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Turkey, Turkey come out and play
What color house are you in today?
WHAT TO DO: Make the houses and turkey from felt. A pattern can be found here. Place 4 or more houses on a
flannelboard. Ask children to close
their eyes. While everyone sings the
song, turn the flannelboard to face you, hide the turkey and turn it back to
face the children. Encourage good
classroom manners by asking children to raise their hand to be called on to
guess which house is hiding the turkey.
I like to play until every child has had a chance to guess.
Feeling over-stuffed? If you have room for one more, do The Turkey
Pokey!
Just substitute turkey parts for the usual hand, foot, etc in The Hokey Pokey. Wing (elbow), tail feathers (bottom), drumstick (leg), beak (mouth) and the whole turkey! Do the Turkey Pokey and you turn yourself about, and the turkeys all say gob gob gobble!
Just substitute turkey parts for the usual hand, foot, etc in The Hokey Pokey. Wing (elbow), tail feathers (bottom), drumstick (leg), beak (mouth) and the whole turkey! Do the Turkey Pokey and you turn yourself about, and the turkeys all say gob gob gobble!
HAPPY
THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
I am thankful for your continued interest
in this blog, my work, and making children’s lives more music-filled!
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What fun Thanksgiving songs! I love that you share so many actions and props for your songs, Miss Carole. I pinned your post to my Kids' Thanksgiving Activities Board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/kids-thanksgiving-activities/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb! I try to remember that to reach ALL the learning styles of the children I work with, I have to move(kinesthetic), use props/visuals (visual) AND sing (auditory). Plus we must get our kids up and moving more often - so many seem surprised when I ask them to run-in-place, hop, etc - and then the smiles and giggles come! YES!
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