#2002. Turkey Wreaths

Art, level: Elementary
Posted Mon Nov 13 13:44:14 PST 2000 by Christina Empfield (cemp1179@hotmail.com).
IUP, Indiana, PA
Materials Required: brown crayons, paper plates, various colors of construction paper, glue, scissors, hole punch, yarn,
Activity Time: approx. 45 minutes - 1 hour
Concepts Taught: Build fine motor skills with a project based on Thanksgiving.

This lesson is designed for a second grade class. The students have been working on a unit on Thanksgiving. They have learned about the pilgrims, the Native Americans and the traditions of Thanksgiving.

Preparation
The following will need to be done before teaching the lesson.

· Trace a circle on each plate to be cut out. Poke a hole in the center of the circle for the students to put the scissors through to cut out the circle.
· Punch a hole into the top of each plate.
· Cut yarn to go through the hole to use to hang the wreath.
· Cut various colors of paper into 4-inch strips to be used as the feathers.

Objectives
The students will create turkey wreaths using a variety of materials. They will develop their fine motor skills with the various steps of the project.

Motivation/Introduction
Review what has been learned to date in the Thanksgiving unit. (Basic facts about the pilgrims, the Native Americans, and the journey to America.) Show the students an example of what the finished project will look like.

Procedure
1. Pass out a paper plate to each student.
2. Students will cut out the circle that is traced on the paper plate.
3. Color the paper plate brown.
4. Create a head and some legs for the turkey using construction paper and crayons.
5. Paste the head and legs onto the back of the paper plate so that the head sticks up through the center of the circle and the legs hang down from the bottom.
6. Wrap each paper strip tightly around a pencil and gently slide the pencil out of the rolled paper. Glue the paper curls to the wreath to create feathers. Fill the entire wreath with the various colors of paper curls.
7. Tie a piece of yarn through the hole at the top so that the wreaths can be hung up.