Thanksgiving Day Songs

I found these too late to use for my storytime this year, but hopefully I'll remember them in time to use them next year!  Here are some fun songs for Thanksgiving that you can use in storytime or to just sing to your child:

Albuquerque Turkey

(to the tune of Clementine)

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

And he's feathered and he's fine

And he wobbles and he gobbles

And I'm awfully glad he's mine.

He's the best pet you could ever get

Better than a cat or dog

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

And I'm awfully glad of that.

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

He's so cozy in his bed

'Cuz for our Thanksgiving dinner

We had scrambled eggs instead!

I'm a Little Turkey

(to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

 

I'm a little turkey,

My name is Ted.

Here are my feathers,

Here is my head.

Gobble, gobble, gobble

Is what I say,

Quick! Run!  It's Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Dinner

(to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Turkey dinner, turkey dinner

Gather 'round, gather 'round

Who will get the drumstick?

Yummy yummy drumstick,

All sit down, all sit down.

Cornbread muffins, chestnut stuffing,

Puddin' pie, one foot high,

All of us were thinner,

Until we came to dinner,

Me oh my! Me oh my!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Storytime Book: "Thanksgiving Cats"

Thanksgiving Cats

by Jean Marzollo

Summary: A family of cats celebrate Thanksgiving by growing lots of vegetables, raising turkeys, making pies, preparing a feast, giving thanks and enjoying the holiday meal.

Thoughts: I used this for my baby storytime yesterday because the book I had planned to use (Thank You, Thanksgiving) was checked out.  It was simple enough to use for the babies, but it was rather uninspiring.  The rhyming pattern didn't seem to flow very well, and it was hard to make the book exciting.  It worked well enough to use as a backup book, but I probably wouldn't use it again unless I had to.  

Craft Idea: Turkey Bookmarks

If you're looking for a last minute craft idea to keep the kids occupied while making dinner, try having them make a turkey page corner bookmark! It's relatively simple, cute, and serves as a bookmark for all their reading needs.

I adapted the monster page corner bookmark from this blog.  It's the same idea, except instead of teeth, I added feathers and a triangle for the beak.  Here's a template from the blog that will allow you to make the body of the turkey (ignore the teeth and body insert if you want).  For the beak, I actually used one triangle from the monster teeth, and I drew my own template for the feathers.  I'm not sure if this is scaled to the right size, but here's my template that I adapted from the original to make the bookmarks.  I used this as a craft for an after school program at the library for older kids, and they had a blast making them.  I hope you do too!

 

Storytime Book: "Thank You, Thanksgiving"

Thank You, Thanksgiving

by David Milgrim

Summary: In this exuberant Thanksgiving story, a little girl goes on a last-minute errand for her mother. Along the way, she thanks all the familiar things she loves: her warm boots, the song of the birds, the pretty clouds in the November sky. And when she gets home from her errand, her family thanks her for what she has brought.

Thoughts: This is a great book for baby/toddler storytime!  The text and pictures are both simple and cute, and convey the great message of giving thanks to everything and everyone during this time of year.  Very sweet and charming!