Teaching Traditional Thanksgiving Foods

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      Turkey Dinner Dance.mp3

 The countdown to Thanksgiving is on!  It is only a few weeks away, so I know I’ll be packing my lessons full of songs related to the upcoming holiday.  

Although teaching the history and meaning behind Thanksgiving is essential, it seems that my students are mainly interested in the food they’ll be gobbling up on November 26th.  So I came up with a fun way to end my Thanksgiving lessons; not only it is centered around the big meal, but it comes with movements!

"Turkey Dinner Dance" involves four different foods: turkey (of course), gravy, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  For each verse in the song, I demonstrate the corresponding move and ask my students to do it along with me.  

Turkey
Tuck your thumbs under your armpits and flap your arms (turkey-style).

Stirring Gravy
Hold your right arm in front of you, curving it to make a half circle (this is the pot). Then use your left to "stir" inside the pot.

Mashed Potatoes
I’m sure you all know this basic dance move, where you pump your fists up and down in front of you.

Pumpkin Pie 
Hold your arms out in front of you, curved at the elbow, and twist back and forth at the waist.

Or even better, make up your own dance moves!  Ask your students to come up with "choreography" for this song and take turns sharing with the rest of the class.  If you really want to get creative, add other Thanksgiving foods and corresponding moves.  Just make sure you do this activity right before lunch, because singing and dancing to this song is guaranteed to leave you hungry!

Listen to "Turkey Dinner Dance" in the audio player below, from Listen & Learn: Thanksgiving

See all of Songs For Teaching’s Thanksgiving Songs