This simple activity turned into over 45-minutes of family fun yesterday evening! We took turns tossing the turkey ball back and forth and saying what we were thankful for. Big Brother L-O-V-E-D this! He was thankful for everything from his bed, to fruit snacks, to his family. Prince Charming and I really enjoyed reflecting on how much we have to be thankful for as well!
Plus, this game provided great gross motor practice–tossing the ball overhand and tossing it underhand. The feathers made the ball even more fun to catch!
Here’s what you’ll need: A “Crystal Bouncy Ball” from the dollar store (hard plastic with small holes in it) and feathers.
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| 1. Stick the feathers in the holes of the ball. I didn’t secure them in any way and was pleasantly surprised that only 1 feather fell out during the course of our 45-minute tossing game! |
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| 2. Using a Sharpie, add a “turkey face”. It won’t show up very well because of all the holes in the ball. If you really wanted to, you could hot glue a face made of felt on your ball! |
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| 3. Start tossing back and forth and saying what you’re thankful for! |
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| “Ummm..I’m tankful for my fwends.” |
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| Even Little Brother (who was quite grouchy at the time) enjoyed feeling the feathers. |
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| And naturally…tossing a ball leads to tackling (at least in our house)! :) |
Literature Link
Thanks for Thanksgiving
by Julie Markes
by Julie Markes
This sweet poem shares what children are thankful for (school, sweet puppies, rain boots & puddles, etc). The illustrations are beautiful and it makes for a quick read. My favorite part about this book is the last page is left blank and asks for children to write what they are thankful for each year!
What a fun activity! Sammy would love the fun tossing and catching. We have been doing a thankful tree and adding leaves on each day for the things we are thankful for :-)
Cute idea. My son would love this!