The kids love the book We're Going On A Bear Hunt. This past spring we went on a bear hunt in the backyard (read about that here) which was met with great fanfare from the kiddos. Lately I've been in a bit of a rut trying to find new, fun, and age appropriate activities (the age appropriate thing especially). The youngest mini happened to ask me the other day if we had a stuffed animal turkey. We didn't but her asking about one was enough to get my wheels turning. And when my wheels turn I wind up with a stuffed turkey that makes noises, a new story, and a morning of fun!
First, I had to do a little re-writing.
The new story went like this:
We're going on a turkey hunt, we're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day, we're not scare! Uh-oh grass! Long wavy grass! We can't go over it, we can't go under it , we have to go through it!
Swishy swashy, swishy, swashy, swishy swashy. We made it!
We're going on a turkey hunt, we're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day, we're not scared! Uh-oh a river! A deep cold river! We cant' go over it, we can't go under it, we have to go through it!
Splash splosh, splash splosh, splash splosh. We made it!
We're going on a turkey hunt, we're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day, we're not scared! Uh-oh mud! Thick oozy mud! We can't go over it, we can't go under it, we have to go through it! Squelch squerch, squelch squerch, squelch squerch. We made it!
We're going on a turkey hunt, we're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day, we're not scared! Uh-oh a snowstorm! A swirling whirling snowstorm. We can't go over it, we can't go under it. We have to go through it!
Hoo woo, hoo woo, hoo woo. We made it!
We're going on a turkey hunt, we're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day, we're not scared! Uh-oh a cave! A narrow gloomy cave! We can't go over it, we can't go under it, we have to go in it! Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe.
What's that???
One beak! Big feathers! Gobble, gobble, gobble.
It's a turkey!!!!
Back through the cave! Tip toe, tip toe.
Back through the snowstorm! Hoo woo, hoo woo.
Back through the forest! Stumble trip, stumble trip.
Back through the mud! Squelch squerch, squelch squerch.
Back through the river! Splash splosh, splash splosh.
Back through the grass! Swishy swashy, swishy swash.
Get to our front door, open the door, and....
Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!
I hid our new turkey under leaves in the front yard (thanks to our giant leaf pile that has yet to get cleaned up from a few weekends ago). As I recited the story, the kids stomped around the yard "searching" for the turkey...until we came to the leaf cave! The kids squealed with delight when the "turkey! Gobble, gobble, gobble!" was found (I had gobbling little turkeys the rest of the day).
The cat did it with us in the afternoon!
Soooooo much excitement at the impending turkey find!
Here's a video of the beginning of a turkey hunt:
We did this activity several times in a row (and then I had to do it during rest time with the youngest mini because she was sad she missed out) and each time the kids loved it more and more. I had a not so peaceful turkey hunt idea for the big boys too: after school they broke out Nerf guns and "shot" the turkey. Simple and fun activities for the holiday season!