Felt Hand Turkeys

The other day I was looking for a craft to do with the kids. Thanksgiving is coming up so I wanted to do something that fit the Thanksgiving theme. I adore hand print crafts because I love being able to have something later that reminds me of how big their hand was. Connected to the craft it also shows what their artistic ability is at that point in growth.

Hand print crafts also have the advantage utilizing many areas that little ones need to work on like fine motor skills (tracing, cutting things out), you can talk about how the hand that is traced is the same size as their hand and how it is larger than the one from last year (learning about growth and size), and usually there is either coloring, gluing, or some other form of decorating that takes place where patterning development, learning about colors, textures, shapes, etc. can all take place. 

This time of year is also a really good time to learn about history, culture, and reasons for being Thankful. I like to talk about the story of the first Thanksgiving and include some talk about how the Native Americans might feel about Thanksgiving given how they are no longer able to live on the land the way they used to.

So I went with the hand print turkey. I have done hand print turkeys in past years using a foot as the head and body and hand prints (usually at least 3) as "feathers". Those are really cute and I recommend them, but this year I went with something a little different.

I had some little googly eyes and toilet paper roles hanging around and I had gone to the craft strore a few days before looking for Thanksgiving colors and found these leaves and pompoms that looked like fun.

We traced the kids hands onto the felt leaving enough room below and next to it to cut out a line to wrap around the toilet paper tube (used for support). I cut the toilet paper tube to about and inch in length but with one side having enough room to extend the length of the hand so it would support the hand so the fingers would not fall over.

Then using a sticky, less watery, craft glue the kids went to town decorating the turkeys.

After the glue dried we glued them onto the toilet paper rolls and set them up.

Filling the Easter Basket: No Sugar

So we have made eggs and we are working on the baskets. The problem is candy. I am not opposed to a small treat but I really don't want an entire basket filled with candy for my kids to eat. In general we don't eat sweets very much so this occasional bump in consumption is not a big deal but since everyone else who gives them a basket is bound to put candy in it I want  to try and do the basket sans candy. 

We are also giving baskets to a few other kids/teens and I don't want to give too much candy there either. Especially considering how bad it really is for us (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57407294/sugar/?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo). 

So I have been trying to come up with a list of other ideas that are not too expensive and that will work for a wide range of ages. Here is what I have come up with so far. 
 1.

Paper Clip Bookmarks

This cute easy craft would make such a great Easter basket gift, you could use any number of things at the top changing it according to the person you are giving it too. I was thinking a button for a teenage boy.

2.

stressballs

Homemade stress balls would be a fun easy and colorful addition to the Easter basket that most any kid enjoys. 

3. Gak in Easter plastic eggs, here is a recipe: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/glue-borax-gak


4. Books. 
                
 
                 
 
               
 
                 
5. Pens/Pencils/Crayons:
I love these little tiny versions of these games on a pen! They are so cute. 
                                             
 
                                               


                                              
6.  Small games or cards. I like the Story Cubes they are so neat for creative thinking and story telling.
                                             
7. Seeds or bulbs. Sunflower seeds are great because they are easy to grow and have huge impact.
                                                
8. Gardening gloves/tools. 
                                               
9. Make your own little egg garden to give them. 

egg garden

This is a cute little egg planter from Roy Joy.

10. Bubbles like these touchable bubbles. 
                                            


What do you like to put in Easter Baskets? 


UPDATE: 
Here are some photos of the bookmarks we made, some more eggs Tie Died, and plastic eggs with blubber/gak stuff. 

These eggs were made with old silk ties. My son was having a blast staging this "photo shoot" with him and his sister. He is the one who set everything up and decided where they should sit, etc. :) Complete tutorial for the eggs here.