Looking for ways to “sneak” in some academics into craft time? This Teaching Turkey game combines the fine motor skills needed for a craft project with the academic practice of a school lesson! Your child gets to dress the turkey with “knowledge” feathers to make learning fun and motivating! Once your child has mastered the knowledge feathers, swap them out for more advanced ones so that this activity can be used to grow along with your child.
Ideas for the Feathers
Early learning skills- Draw shapes to work on shape identification or use colored paper to work on color identification
Literacy Skills- Write letters on the feathers for letter identification or spelling practice
Math Skills- Write numbers on the feathers to work on number identification and addition/ subtraction skills, or have your child arrange the feathers in a pattern (i.e. red, blue, red, blue, red, etc..) for pattern practice.
Materials Needed
Paper feathers- Draw your own or download this free feather printable page: feather-printable
Styrofoam block (mine was 5″x 5″)
Lollipop Sticks
Tape
Crayons/Markers
Construction paper for decorative turkey face (optional decoration)
Brown Paint (optional to paint the turkey)
How to Play
Start by constructing the turkey (have your child make the turkey for fine motor skill development).
Paint the stryofoam block brown (optional) and allow it to dry
Design the feathers to fit the academic level of your child.
Cut the feathers out and tape each feather onto a lollipop stick.
Have your child identify the learning concept on the feather as they poke it into the turkey
After all of the feathers have been placed in the turkey, pull the out and play again. Update the feathers to new learning concepts once the old ones have been mastered.
Grab these few supplies and make your own teaching turkey today for “gobbles” of learning fun!