Twelve Days of Thanksgiving - Day 12

Days of Thanksgiving

I've always loved these ideas that extend through multiple days to celebrate the holiday seasons (did you catch my 13 Days of Halloween posts?). This year I found ideas for the 12 Days of Thanksgiving and I couldn't resist sharing them with you. The ideas in this post came from a very vintage magazine called Copycat Press from 1990 (which just doesn't feel like it should be labeled very vintage, but I suppose that's because I am very vintage myself!) 

The ideas are centered around using the poetry from It's Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky. I didn't have this book in our Club library, but I did find a few versions of read alouds online. Here's the one that includes the entire book (which is helpful since you'll use different poems each day).

Twelfth Day of Thanksgiving
No matter how much we look forward to smelling the turkey roasting in the oven and eating turkey at holiday time, just a few days of eating turkey leftovers leaves your taste buds hoping for a change in the menu. See how inventive your members can be. Read aloud the poem "Leftovers." Then challenge the kids to create an unusual turkey leftover dish. Hold a Turkey Leftover Contest. See who can come up with the most unusual turkey concoction. Perhaps you could have the group vote on the recipe they would most like to try and let the winner try their hand at preparing their concoction with the kitchen staff to share with other members.

13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 10 Frankenstein Friday

Happy Frankenstein Friday! This holiday hoopla is celebrated the last Friday of October and pays homage to one of my favorite Halloween icons - Frankenstein's Monster (I was an English major - getting the name right is kind of a big deal to me).

What can you do to celebrate Frankenstein Friday? I'm so glad you asked!

First of all, watching the original 1931 film (featuring Boris Karloff as the monster) might be a bit over the top for some (most) kids, but luckily there's a great kid friendly adaptation by one of my very favorite freaky-family-friendly film creators - Tim Burton: Frankenweenie. I love the complete black-and-white filming of this movie and it easily lends itself to encouraging kids to explore their own mad scientist tendencies (STEM anyone?).

Of course, any good movie needs a good snack to accompany it, and there are a few fun options that tie into the Frankenstein theme. First, you can go the healthy route - here is a super simple Frankenstein apple idea from NonToy Gifts and a more complicated Frankenstein Kiwi idea from Two Healthy Kitchens.

Looking for some more crowd friendly, but still healthy, ideas that you can whip up and snap but will definitely be show stoppers? Here's a super cute (and super easy) idea from Blue Skies Ahead to make a Frankenstein veggie platter and a Bride of Frankenstein (he can't have all the fun, can he?) dip platter that looks amazing from Fork and Beans.

Now, with the snack options covered (not that there aren't a million more, remember, Pintrest is your friend). We can take a look at some fun craft ideas to keep hands busy. Our kids LOVE legos and I found this cool diagram (sorry, no instructions) for making a Frankenstein's monster out of legos that was part of the build together network (not absorbed by lego.com).We're going to expand the idea and have the kid create mad scientist labs to house their Frankenstein's monsters. I also found a fun game from House a Forest called Roll a Frankenstein. I personally love dice games because I happen to have quite a collection in various colors and shapes (I might be a self-proclaimed nerd).

Want something a little more crafty for your little hands to do? Here's a really cute Frankenstein sun catcher idea found at From ABCs to ACTs and and Frankenstein Foldable Craft from Artists Helping Children.

I love themed days like this because it lets me pull out all the stops for a special Thirteen Days of Halloween. Do you have any fun Frankenstein's Monster themed ideas? Are you celebrating Frankenstein Friday? Let me know!

Kids in the Kitchen - National Pizza Month

Choose any day in October to celebrate Pizza Festival Time Month. Pizza originated in Italy, but today is an international favorite.  Not only is pizza delicious, it's nutritious too.  A pizza made with meat and veggie toppings provides foods from each of the four major food groups.

Give your child a large circle cut from card board (or a pizza wheel) and let them paint on red "sauce" (tempera paint).  Next let them top their pizza with construction paper cut outs of their favorite toppings (red pepperoni circles, black olive ovals, yellow pineapple tidbits, green bell pepper rings, tan mushroom slices).  Let your child sprinkle on yellow cornmeal (from a shaker container) for cheese.

I Wish I Were a Pepperoni Pizza

Sung to: "The Oscar Myer Theme Song"

Oh, I wish I were a pepperoni pizza,

That is what I'd truly like to be.

For if I were a pepperoni pizza,

Everyone would be in love with me!

Additional Verses: Substitute other favorite pizza toppings.

Prepare a variety of pizza toppings.  Include tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce adds more flavor) and cheese plus any other toppings your children like (olives, mushrooms, cooked sausage, ham, pepperoni, etc.)  Have children place a hamburger bun or English muffin top or bottom on a paper towel and top with a little sauce, cheese and their favorite toppings.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake pizzas at 400 degrees until cheese melts.

Has your group celebrated National Pizza Month? Have you made pizzas from hamburger buns or English muffins? Let me know!