unicorn Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

My Thoughts on the Book

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I love that the Unicorns and Germs book shares big ideas with kids and lets them see just how research is done. It doesn’t assume they need things simplified. It is a chapter book. You may need to read it to your children a little at a time. Although your children may not want to wait to find out what happens to the unicorn.

Exploring the Worksheets

You may want to go over the hand washing steps with your children before starting the activity. They may not be familiar with the turn off the water with a towel step. My students at school insisted that you will get germs on your hands again if you don’t use a towel. It hadn’t been a part of the sequencing and building an algorithm lesson I share with kindergartners and first graders every fall. It was added in because it made sense and they insisted it needed to be a part of hand washing steps.

You can have your children work on their own one or both of the worksheets. Another option is to have them work with you to fill in the blanks or draw the pictures.
When they have finished the worksheet, they can walk you through each of the steps. I think have you retell the steps will really help them learn them.

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

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.

Turkey Disguise Project

Getting Ready

Downloading the Project Pages

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.

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.

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

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.