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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock Craft and Printables

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New Year's Eve Countdown Clock Craft and Printables

This is the second in a series of posts that feature New Year’s Eve activities. Yesterday I shared a STEM activity that features a New Year’s Thaumatrope Printable Set. Today I have fun paper plate countdown clock craft to share with you. It features a clock face that displays the numbers one to ten. The printable set also includes a party hat countdown spinner.

Getting Ready to Work on the Countdown Clock Craft

New Year's Eve Countdown Clock Craft and Printables - Supplies

You will need to download theNew Year’s Coundown Clock Craft and Printables Countdown Clock set. It includes black and white and purple clock face printables. There is also a page filled with party hat countdown hands or spinners. We printed our clock face off on white copy paper. The party hats were printed out on white card stock.

Links below are affiliate links.

Then you will need to gather the following craft supplies:

Putting the Countdown Clock Craft Together

Your children will need to glue the clock face down onto the back of a paper plate.

New Year's Eve Countdown Clock Craft and Printables - Decorated Plate

Then they will need to decorate their paper plate. They can draw fun lines and designs around the edge of the plate. If you want them to, you can have them decorate the clock face. We kept our face plain.

They will then need to decorate the party hat spinner. We didn’t fill in the letters in Happy New Year, but you can have your children do that if you like.

New Year's Eve Countdown Clock Craft and Printables - Finished Plate

Finally, you need to attach the brass fastener to the plate and the party hat spinner. You will need to place a small hole in the spinner and paper plate before you can do that.

Counting Down to New Year’s Eve

Your children will need to point the top of the party hat towards the number ten. Then they will need to slowly turn the hat from the ten all the way around to the one.

When they reach the number one, they can shout “Happy New Year.”

If you like this New Year’s Eve activity, here are some more that I think you will like.

Paper Plate Countdown Ball

Zipline New Year’s Ball Drop

Countdown Stars Game

Fireworks in a Jar

 

 

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New Year’s Thaumatrope Printable Set

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New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope.

 

Thaumatropes feature a different picture on their front and back. When children spin a wooden dowel or chopstick placed between the pictures, they seem to blend together. Yes, you will see that it looks like one of the pictures has joined the other to form one picture.  Your children will love watching the decorated images become part of a New Year’s themed optical illusion.

Creating a New Year’s Themed Thaumatrope

Getting Ready the Supplies Together

Downloading the Printable

New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope. This one has a top hat.

You will need to download the New Year’s Thaumatropes Printable Set. Once you have downloaded the set, you can place a single word or the year of your choice on the back of the thaumatropes on pages five and seven. They have an editable space on them.

This set was designed to be printed out in black and white onto white cardstock. Your children can decorate or outline the pictures on their thaumatrope any color they like.

New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope. This one has an editable text box.

Links below are affiliate links.

Decorating Supplies

New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope. Here are the supplies you are going to need.

We used metallic marker pensto decorate each thaumatrope. If you don’t have any available, your children could use any of the following drawing tools to decorate theirs.

You will also need wooden skewers or chopsticks for each child.

Putting the Thaumatropes Together

New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope. Two designs glued together.

Once your children have decorated the designs that that will use on their thaumatrope, they are getting to glue them onto the chopstick. Then they will glue the back sides of the design circles together.

Explore Their Thaumatropes

New Year's Thaumatrope Printable Set - Children at home and students at school can select from four designs for their thaumatrope. Ready to spin the thaumatrope.

Children will need to place the chopstick between their hands. Then they will need to rub them together. Rubbing their hands together will cause the thaumatrope to spin.

Some experimentation will need to be done to figure out how fast the thaumatrope needs to spin for the two pictures to blend together.

If you like this New Year’s activity, here are some more you will love.

Printable New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock

New Year’s Eve Fizzy Baking Soda Science

New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall

Paper Plate Countdown Ball

Zipline New Year’s Ball Drop

 

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Reindeer Antlers Number Recognition Match

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Your children will have fun finding the antlers that match. Each pair of reindeer antlers displays the same number of points or branches off of the central area of the antler. They also display the number representation of that number of points or branches.

Getting Ready to Play Match the Reindeer Antlers

Reindeer Antlers Number Recongition - Students at school or children at home can work on number recognition and counting skills using this free printable set. It includes reindeer counting heads and ten pairs of antlers. Each anter card displays a number in antler points and number form. Children will have fun changing the number o antlers on their reindeer. This pair explores the number ten.

Printing Out the Number Matching Set

You will need to print out the Reindeer Antlers Number Recognition Match set. It includes to Rudolph cards that the antlers can be displayed above. There are also ten matching pairs of reindeer antlers.

Reindeer Antlers Number Recongition - Students at school or children at home can work on number recognition and counting skills using this free printable set. It includes reindeer counting heads and ten pairs of antlers. Each anter card displays a number in antler points and number form. Children will have fun changing the number o antlers on their reindeer. This pair explores the number two.

This set was designed to be printed out on a color printer. The reindeer really doesn’t look right printed out in gray on a black and white printer.

Playing the Reindeer Antlers Matching Game

The first thing your children are going to need to do it explore the antlers cards. You will want to help them count how many points or branches are on each card. Then you can show them that the number of points matches the number on the card.

Reindeer Antlers Number Recongition - Students at school or children at home can work on number recognition and counting skills using this free printable set. It includes reindeer counting heads and ten pairs of antlers. Each anter card displays a number in antler points and number form. Children will have fun changing the number o antlers on their reindeer. This pair explores the number 2.

Next, you will need to give each of your children a Rudolph card. They will place each of their matches in a stack above the reindeer’s head.

Then you will need to turn the reindeer antler cards face down on a table.

Finally, they will take turns trying to find matching number antlers cards. If they find a match, they can place them beside each other above their reindeer’s head.

Alternative Game

You can give your children a stack containing each of the antler cards. They will need to sort through their stack to find matching cards. When they have found a match, they can place it over their reindeer’s head.

If you like this reindeer printable activity, here are some more you will love:

Straw Rocket Flying Reindeer

Exploring Printable Mazes with Reindeer

Reindeer and Polar Express Printable Puppets

Reindeer Antlers Number Recongition - Students at school or children at home can work on number recognition and counting skills using this free printable set. It includes reindeer counting heads and ten pairs of antlers. Each anter card displays a number in antler points and number form. Children will have fun changing the number o antlers on their reindeer. This pair explores the number two and invited children to look for the card that will match the number one.

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Changing the Color of the Reindeer’s Nose Color Activity

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Changing the Color of the Reindeer's Nose Color Activity

Rudolph was a red nose reindeer, but what fun it would be to change the color of his nose.  Your children can create a reindeer. Then they can create a way to change the color of its nose. If you don’t want your children to craft a reindeer, you can use our printable one. Below you will find the reindeer and the color wheel printable set.  Your children could always to create their own reindeer on paper plates and use our color wheel.

Reindeer’s Nose Color Activity

Getting Ready

Changing the Color of the Reindeer's Nose Color Activity - Printable Reindeer with a Blue Nose

Downloading the Printables

You will need to download the Changing the Color of the Reindeer’s Nose set. It includes a printable reindeer and two color wheels. The whole set will need to be printed out in color.

Gathering Supplies

Changing the Color of the Reindeer's Nose Color Activity - Homemade Reindeer with a Blue Nose

You have a variety of ways that you can put this color activity together. Your children can create their own reindeer and use one of the printable color wheels. Another option is to have them use the printable reindeer and the printable color wheel. In either case, your children will need to create their own antlers.

Each Child Will Need the Following:

Large Paper Plate

Small Paper Plate

Brown Construction Paper

Black Construction Paper or Black Foam Sheet

White Foam Sheet

One Brass Fastener

Scissors

Glue Stick

Putting the Color Activity Together

Changing the Color of the Reindeer's Nose Color Activity - Homemade Reindeer with a Yellow Nose

The first thing your children are going to need to do is to cut out the reindeer printable or the pieces for their own reindeer. If they are creating their own reindeer, they will need to make the head, eyes, and antlers. They are are using the printable one they will just need to make the antlers.

Next, they will need glue the reindeer and the antler to the large paper plate.

Changing the Color of the Reindeer's Nose Color Activity - Homemade Reindeer with a Red Nose

Then they will need to cut out nose space.

The color wheel will need to be glued to the small paper plate and then cut out. (The color wheel with eight colors works best on a narrower nose hole.)

Finally, the color wheel will need to be attached to the reindeer plate with a brass fastener. It will not reach the end of the reindeer’s nose. This will make it easier to turn.

This activity was created to go along with the book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is the Virtual Book Club book of the week. Here are some more activities based on the book.

Reindeer Letter Matching Game

Fingerprint Reindeer Ornament

Rudolph Pipe Cleaner Circuit (Christmas STEM)

Paper Shapes Reindeer Craft

 

Here are some more holiday themed activities your kids will love:

Jingle Bell Counting Activity

Make a Paper Bag Gingerbread House

Rudolph STEM Straw Rocket

 

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Gingerbread Man Craft- Exploring Shapes

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Gingerbread Man Craft That Explores Shapes- Your children at home or students at school will creating a gingerbread man with shapes. Later they can decorate the gingerbread man with buttons and wiggly eyes.

 

Save some of the cardboard delivery boxes you receive in the mail to create this gingerbread man craft. You can cut the pieces out for your younger children. Older children can cut out the shapes themselves. Children of all ages can put the gingerbread man together and decorate it.

Creating the Gingerbread Man Craft

Getting the Cardboard Shapes Ready

Each of your children is going to need the following shapes cut out of cardboard (You can use cardstock instead if you like. It is much easier to cut.)

  • One Circle
  • Two Long Rectangles
  • One Square
  • Two Long TrianglesGingerbread Man Craft - Cardboard Pieces

You will need to gather some or all of the decorating supplies below:

  • White Crayons
  • Buttons
  • Glue Sticks
  • Markers
  • Ribbons
  • Pom-Poms
  • Wiggly Eyes
  • Stickers

Constructing the Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Man Craft That Explores Shapes - Shapes Assembled

Your children may choose to have triangular legs and rectangular arms. They could make the body the circle and the square the head.  The gingerbread man your children create doesn’t need to look just like the one we made.

 

Once they have the shapes arrange the way they want them to be, they can glue the gingerbread man together.

Decorating the Gingerbread Man

Gingerbread Man Craft That Explores Shapes with Icing

There isn’t a wrong way to decorate the gingerbread man although making sure he has eyes, nose and a mouth is probably important.

When they have finished decorating their gingerbread man craft, you can cord or ribbon to the back on it to use it as an ornament.

Gingerbread Man Craft That Explores Shapes Close Up

If you like this Christmas craft, here are some more Christmas crafts you will want to explore.

Five Little Christmas Tree Handprint Craft

Hanger Reindeer

Candy Cane Reindeer

Birthday Hat Christmas Tree

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

The link below is an affiliate link.

The Gingerbread Boy by Jan Brett is the Virtual Book Club book of the week, here are some more activities based on the book.

Gingerbread House Glyph – Mama Smiles

Let’s Explore Gingerbread Patterning – My Storytime Corner

Gingerbread Baby Scissor Skills – School time snippets

Foam Gingerbread Christmas Busy Bag- Views From a Step Stool

Gingerbread Man Shape Game – Rainy Day Mum

Fingerprint Gingerbread Man Ornament – The Educators’ Spin On It 

Gingerbread Man Craft That Explores Shapes

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Christmas Countdown Calendar and Learning Activity

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Christmas Countdown Calendar and Activity

This set of Christmas countdown calendar printables can be used to work on number recognition or to count down the days until Christmas. You will find two Christmas countdown printables in this set. One is black and white. The other has a green Christmas tree.  Let me walk you through how you can explore them with your children.

Christmas Countdown Calendar And Learning Activity

Getting Ready

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Activity Set - Colored Tree

Downloading and Printing the Countdown

You will need to download the Christmas Countdown Printable SetThen you will need to decide which countdown you want to use.

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Activity Set - BW Tree

Gathering the Supplies

Your children can gather stickers, colored pencils, crayons or markers to fill in or cover each number.  The circles around the numbers were made large. Your children can cover them holiday stickers, colored circle stickers or color them in.

Using the Countdown as a Countdown

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Activity Set - Colored with Stickers

Each day you can have your children color in or put a sticker on the ornament on tree displays the date of that day. The numbers start at the bottom of the tree and work their way to the top of the tree.  I wanted the ornaments to lead your children up to the star.

Christmas Countdown Calendar and Activity Set - Colored with Pencils

Hint: If your children will not like that the complete circle is covered, you will want them color in the circles. They can make the ornaments circles one solid color or place a design in them.

You will notice that they count down from left to right. Children learn to count from left to right. I wanted the numbers to follow what they have learned about number order.

Using the Countdown as a Learning Activity

You can print out the number cards along with one of the countdown calendars. The number cards can be placed in a stack. Your children can pick up one number card at a time. They can they color in or cover that number.

If you like this Christmas themed learning activity, here are some more you will like.

Advent Countdown Set

Flying Reindeer STEM Activity

Reindeer Games with Magnets

Create Your Own Reading Center Matching Games Editable Printable

Polar Express Coloring Pages

 

 

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Advent Countdown for Kids

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Advent Countdown for KidsChildren will have fun creating their own Advent countdown. They will be able to use to explore numbers and count down the days until Christmas. By the time Christmas arrives they will be left with the star. Long ago a star led the wise men and shepherds to Jesus. Your children’s Advent countdown star will lead children to the day we celebrate his birth.

Creating the Advent Countdown

Getting Ready for the Craft

Advent Countdown Craft for Kids - Printable Star

You will need to download the Advent Countdown Craft printable set. It includes a printable star and a set of printable strips. We used old wrapping paper to create our strips. You could print out a variety of strips onto colored copy paper if you prefer.

Advent Countdown Craft for Kids - Printable Strips

Other Supplies You Needed

  • Stickers
  • Markers
  • Ribbons or Rick Rack
  • Glue
  • Color Dot Stickers
  • Wrapping Paper or Christmas Themed Scrapbook Paper
  • Popsicle Sticks

Putting the Advent Countdown Together

Your children will need to start by cutting out the star. If you think they will have trouble cutting around the outside and inside of the star, you can cut the star out for them.

Next, they will need to decorate the star. They can draw or cut and glue items onto their star. When they are finished, you can glue popsicle sticks to the back of the star to help it hold its shape.

Then they will need to cut out the strips.  As I mentioned they could make their strips out of scrapbook paper, old wrapping paper or colored copy paper.

Advent Countdown for Kids- Close Up

Colored dot stickers will need to be placed on each of the strips. Then they will need to write the numbers one through 24 onto one of the stickers.

Advent Countdown for Kids- Close Up with Numbers

Finally, they will need to make to chains with loops. One chain will display all the even numbered loops in order from 24 to 2. The other chain will display the odd-numbered loops from 23 to 1.

Completing the Advent Countdown

Each day during advent your children will cut off one of the loops. They will start by cutting off the loop with the 24 on it.

Advent Countdown for Kids- Cutting off a loop

You can hang the countdown on your Christmas tree like an ornament or in your kitchen off of a kitchen cabinet knob.

Advent Countdown for Kids- Cutting off a loop with scissors

Links below are affiliate links.

This activity was designed to go along with the Virtual Book Club book of the week Merry Christmas, Mouse!. You could also read any of the Advent books listed below before creating it.

Here are more activities for other Virtual Book Club members.

 

Solar System Ornaments from Teach Beside Me

STEAM Ornament Paint Explosion from Preschool Powell Packets

Ornaments for Your Kids to Color and Sew from Mama Smiles

Sparkly Candy Cane Ornaments from Toddler Approved

If You Give a Mouse Themed Ornament from The Educator’s Spin on It!

Peppermint Cream Mice from The Rainy Day Mum

Advent Countdown Calendar Craft and Activity - This is a fun way to countdown to Christmas and explore number recognition. A free printable set includes a star template and printable loop strips.

 

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Flying Reindeer STEM Activity

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Flying Reindeer STEM Activity

 

Earlier this year I shared with you a straw rocket frog leaping activity and one featuring fireworks.  Since Santa and his flying reindeer are fun to read about and see in movies in time of year, I thought your children would like to explore flying reindeer. This fun flying reindeer activity invites children to find the best way to get a reindeer to fly a distance.

Flying Reindeer Activity

Getting Ready

Getting the Printables

Flying Reindeer STEM Activity- Recording Printable

The first thing you are going to need to do is to download a copy of the Flying Reindeer STEM Activity. It includes a recording printable for your children to place the distance each of their attempts went and a set of reindeer cutouts. You will find a set of colored reindeer and a set of reindeer your children can color.

Gathering Supplies

Links below are affiliate links.

You will also need the following supplies for this activity:

Building Background

You may want to read your children a book about reindeer before starting this activity. You will find some wonderful reindeer books displayed below that would be fun to read.

The links below are affiliate links.

Conducting the Flying Reindeer Activity

You or your children will need to place a measuring tape out on the floor. They will use it to measure the distance their reindeer travel.

Then it is time to place their reindeer pipette onto the striped straw and give it a good hard blow. (We found that the reindeer traveled the farthest when we lay prone on the ground.)

Flying Reindeer STEM Activity - Ready for Take Off

Next, you will need to measure how far the reindeer traveled and record it on the recording printable.

Then it is time to try to see if you can get it to travel farther. You can encourage your children to try holding the straw at various angles and blowing through it in different ways.

Flying Reindeer STEM Activity- The reindeer has landed.

The recording printable gives children the opportunity to record three flying distances. Your children can really attempt to get their reindeer to fly farther and farther as many times as they want.

Finally, your children will need to dictate to you or write down on their own what they did that made the reindeer travel the farthest.

If you like this STEM activity, here are some more activities your children will love:

STEM Christmas Building Shapes with Stickman

Building Shapes with The Stickman

Make Rudolph Fly Fast STEM Challenge- After constructing a flying reindeer, it is time conduct a science experiment to see how to make him fly fast.

Make Rudolph Fly Fast STEM Experiment

New Year’s Thaumatrope Printable Set

STEM Activity- New Year's Ball Drop: What fun it is to see what materials will help our homemade New Year's Ball drop fastest.

New Year’s Ball Drop STEM Challenge

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Reindeer Games with Magnets

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Reindeer Games with Magnets

Each of these magnet reindeer games can be explored with magnets above the mazes or under them. Your children will have fun exploring each of the reindeer games. Once they have figured out how to get through each of the mazes, they can find unique and fun ways to have the reindeer go through them.

Reindeer Games with Magnets

Getting Ready

Downloading the Mazes and Reindeer

Before your children can explore the reindeer games, you will need to download the Reindeer Games with Magnets set. It includes five different mazes and a set of printable reindeer. You will want to print the mazes and the reindeer out on card stock.

Gathering the Other Supplies

Links below are affiliate links.

You will need to create a workspace for your mazes out of an old cereal box. The box will need to be covered with wrapping paper on all but the top of the box.

Then you will need to clip a maze to the cereal box with mini clothes pin. It will help the maze stay in place.

Next, you will place a paperclip on the reindeer. This will allow the magnet to move him.

The last thing you will need to do is get a magnet wand. While you could use other kinds of magnets, the wand will be easy to use over and inside the box.

Playing The Reindeer Games

There are a number of reindeer games you can play with the mazes. Let me share them with you.

Reindeer Games with Magnets - Moving the reindeer and magnet over the maze.

Over the Maze

You can pick up the paper clipped reindeer with the wand. Then you can slide or move the reindeer on the wand through each of the mazes. He can move through the mazes upside down or hooves at the bottom of the magnet. It is really up to you.

The wand can be held out in front of you or down over the maze. There really isn’t a wrong way to hold it.

Reindeer Games with Magnets - Moving the reindeer over the maze and the magnet in the box.

Magnet in the Box

You can place the paper clipped reindeer beside start on the top of the cereal box. Then you can hold the wand inside the box.

You can slowly move the reindeer through the maze by moving the wand around inside the box. This can be a little tricky, but boy is it fun.

 

If you like this activity, here are some more you will love.

Magnetic Fireworks

Magnetic Astronaut 

Christmas Themed Magnetic Sensory Bin

Crafting a Christmas Tree Magnet

Exploring a Jingle Bell Bottle

Reindeer Games with Magnets - Your children at home and students at school will have fun exploring this set of five mazes with a magnet wand and card stock reindeer.

 

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STEAM Turkey Disguise Project- Let’s Make It A Unicorn

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Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Actually children can design a variety of disguises for a turkey. This printable set includes a turkey template, planning document and idea chart.

Your children will have fun designing a turkey disguise for the turkey on the template in this printable set. I chose to make my turkey a unicorn. Your children will have fun using a STEAM planning document and our list of ideas to come up with their own turkey disguises. It totally doesn’t have to be a unicorn.

Building Background

Below you will find fun turkey-themed books. It would be fun to read one of them to your children before starting this activity.

How to Catch a Turkey shares the story of a turkey that get loose during the Thanksgiving play.

Once a turkey finds that he is for dinner, he comes up with various disguises to hide himself in the story Turkey Trouble.

Turkey Disguise Project

Getting Ready

Downloading the Project Pages

Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Turkey Planning Document

You will need to download a copy of the STEAM Turkey Disguise Project. It includes the disguise planning document, the turkey template, and a disguise idea chart. All of the pages in the set were designed to be printed on a black-and-white printer.

Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Turkey Template

Gathering Decorating Supplies

Here are some supplies you will want to put out for your disguise designers:

  • Crayons
  • Markers
  • Scissors
  • Fabric Scraps
  • Construction Paper or Colored Cardstock
  • Buttons
  • Glue
  • Ribbon
  • Bits of Nature Gathered from Outdoors (Twigs or Leaves)

Planning The Disguise

Before your children create their disguise, they will need to plan it. I worked on the unicorn design several times before picking up a pair of scissors. The planning document in the set has ample space to draw a costume or disguise.

Creating the Disguise

Your children may create a costume that covers some or all of the turkey. It is up to you or them to decide how much of the turkey they want to cover. You can also decide just what supplies you want them to use.
Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Turkey Design Ideas

If your children decide not to cover all of their turkeys, they will need to color the parts of the turkey that will be shown.

When they are ready, they can start constructing the turkey’s disguise.

How I Made the Unicorn

Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Turkey Disguised as a Unicorn

The unicorn I created was made of three pieces of white cardstock. It has a head, horn, and body section. Once they were cut out, each piece was outlined with a gold or silver marker.

The head was made big so it would cover the turkey’s head and some of its feathers. The nostrils of the unicorn are the eyeholes for the turkey. I wanted his eyes to show through from the back.

The mane and the tail were created using a variety of curled ribbons. The ribbon was glued to the back of the unicorn.

After coloring the turkey, I dressed him in his disguise. Your children don’t have to color the turkey if they don’t want to.

Here are some more turkey disguise ideas:

Box of Popcorn

Astronaut in Outer Space

Baseball Player

Minion 

If you like these turkey crafts here are some more you will like.

Paper Plate Turkeys

Potato Masher Turkey

Paper Lantern Turkey

Here is another STEM/STEAM activity to explore:

Thanksgiving STEM Activity- Create a Turkey Hideway

Let's Make a Unicorn STEAM Turkey Disguise Project - Actually children can design a variety of disguises for a turkey. This printable set includes a turkey template, planning document and idea chart.
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