Thanksgiving Projects: Hand Print Turkeys & Cornucopia Still Life Paintings

I challenged my class this week to get in touch with their artistic sides as we give thanks for the many blessings we have in our life.  Beside collecting almost 160 cans as a class to give to the homeless, we also worked on projects in class that give thanks for all we have.  The first project we did was to paint our hand to make an autumn-colored handprint.  After they dried, we went CRAZY with markers, turning our hand prints into Thanksgiving Turkeys!!  The students were very creative, and their artwork was AWESOME!!

 Here are a couple examples of the hand prints.

Students picked out the colors they wanted for the

fingers/feathers.

 Here are some of the finished Hand Turkey pictures.

They had a blast creating them, and all were so different.

 We did "Artist's Chair" when finished, and 

I loved how the students described their pictures.

 "This is an Electric Turkey"

"My turkey is playing with his friends."

"This turkey is running from a tornado."

"My turkey is eating a banana."

We also made a "Giving Thanks" Card that we will bring home to share with our families after the Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow.  We dissected a "Thankful" poem, highlighting some of the vocabulary and adding some of our own illustrations.  Then we wrote our own "I am Thankful..." poems to give to mom and dad.  I think they turned out really good, and you should enjoy reading them!

 Here's an example of the Card Cover.

 Here are a few examples of the inside of the cards.

The students helped come up with the poem we wrote!

In class, I also made a "Giving Thanks" Jar, where the students could write down on colored strips of paper what they are thankful for.  We are collecting the "thanks", and will share them aloud tomorrow after our Thanksgiving Feast.

 The class really liked this idea!  They were lined up all day long

to get a chance to put their "thanks" into the jar.

It will be a special moment sharing these tomorrow!!

Finally, I sent home an art project idea with the homework this week, and was completely blown away with the results that came back.  Students were encouraged to create a cornucopia display with their family (or find one from the internet), then sit down and paint what they see.  My budding little artist Ana brought back this masterpiece to share with the class.

I'm pretty sure more students will be bringing in their art tomorrow to add to the collection.  I plan on showcasing these at school so the older students can see what these amazing kids created!!  This year I am definitely thankful to be blessed with such amazing students.  I wake up excited to work with them each day.  How many people can say that about their jobs??

Enjoy the amazing art our class created to give thanks this holiday season, and enjoy the week off on vacation with your loved ones.  See you all in December! -Mr. Linnet