Reading Now

Reading to Kids

  • Story of the Orchestra
    Story of the Orchestra
    With CD!
  • My Big Book of Catholic Bible Stories
    My Big Book of Catholic Bible Stories
    Love this! Check Giveaways
  • The Little Red Hen
    The Little Red Hen
    Hooray for a good work ethic! The little red hen asks but receives no help in her efforts to put bread on the table. Yet all who wouldn't help would like to eat. In a refreshingly old-fashioned triumph of moral consequences, they don't get to!
  • Noisy Nora
    Noisy Nora
    Poor Nora! The loveable mousette experiences all the pangs of the child-in-the- middle, caught between the demands of baby brother and bossiness of big sister. Catchy meter, playful illustrations make for a wonderfully satisfying mouse's tale. Baby-Preschool
  • A Chair for My Mother
    A Chair for My Mother
    A remarkably beautiful story told by a young girl whose mother is a waitress. Since they lost all their furniture in a fire, they've been saving mother’s tips in a jar – so they can buy a big comfortable chair for their whole family to enjoy – daughter, mother and grandmother. Life has its ups and downs, but there’s always lots of love. Ages 4-7
  • Caps for Sale
    Caps for Sale
    Be dramatic! Shake your fists! Stomp your feet! You and your toddler will have so much fun with this wonderful story, in which common sense prevails over temper tantrums! 3-7

    See more great kids' books under Barbara's Picks
  • Character Sketches From the Pages of Scripture, Illustrated in the World of Nature
    Character Sketches From the Pages of Scripture, Illustrated in the World of Nature
    Institue in Basic Youth Conflicts

November 9, 2005 11:59 AM

Thanksgiving Banner

This family project will produce a special Thanksgiving decoration to hang every year - and some wonderful memories of making it together.

You need:

Bowls of dried beans, peas, corn, and wild rice
Small glue containers

When our family made this, I had found a big poster of a turkey at Target - about 3' high and probably intended to hang on a front door. I have looked all over the internet to find a link for you, but with no success. So as an alternative, I can only suggest drawing the turkey yourself on a very large piece of posterboard. For those of you who are artistically-challenged as I, you can use the turkey below as a guide:

turkey.gif

You might want to work on this project only when every member of the family is there – including daddy. The object is to creatively accent the outline of the turkey and each feather with lines of dried beans, peas, or rice. Use Elmer's glue generously – it will dry clear and your beans will be secure year after year. Try not to control the final results – they’re not as important as the process.

This project will probably occupy several one hour sessions – an excellent time to share the story of the Pilgrims, and to talk about your own family's trials and faith in God. If you have little ones, work on a piece of plywood or cardboard, so you can put everything away between sessions.

When complete, you can either mount your turkey mosaic with glue to a large piece of felt hemmed at the top for display as a banner. Or if the turkey has been drawn on posterboard, you can just hang the posterboard itself.

With contrasting felt for the felt banner, or Sharpees if you working on poster board, spell across the top and bottom:

THANKSGIVING
turkey.gif
IN OUR HEARTS

Each Thanksgiving, as you pull this out of storage, you'll see your children's faces light up with memories!

Love,
signature.gif

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Thanksgiving | Permalink

Comments

Cool idea. I'm trying to come up with some kind of yard decoration that will be meaningful ... we live on a very busy street and if the neighbors can go all out at Halloween, well, why can't we go all out praising God?

Posted by: floorplan | November 9, 2005 6:12 PM

barbara, you are so thoughtful to purposely share with young families how to make this a meaningful holiday, and in good time, also. I have spent too many TGs wishing I had prepared ahead of time to make it more special.

THank you : )

Posted by: floorplan | November 9, 2005 6:26 PM

Post a comment