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Looking for some turkey music and movement activities you can use in your November music lessons? I’ve got some easy to use ideas in this blog post today for your preschool through sixth grade students.
Here are some music and movement ideas you can easily integrate into your current music lessons, or help to create new ones.
Keep reading to learn how to integrate IMPROVISATION, FORM, COMPOSITION, and LITERACY in music class.
After all, everyone loves turkey music and movement activities. And you can have both in your lessons.
This song can be used with any of your November and Thanksgiving music lessons.
It’s a favorite turkey music and movement activity with my Kinder and First Graders.
RESOURCE INCLUDES:
You put your right wing in.
You put your right wing out.
You put your right wing in
and you shake it all about!
You do the Turkey Lurkey
and you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!
You put your left wing in…
Right Leg
Left Leg
Right Hip
Left Hip
Feathers
Gobble
Whole Turkey
Get the “Turkey Lurkey” Music and Movement Activity in our Web Shop HERE:
Begin with Turkey Vocalizations.
The children can use their scarves to show the path of the turkey.
Have the children use scarves to be their feathers.
Play some turkey music and have them pretend to be turkeys.
I like the children to take turns. So the outside of the circle is the farm yard and the inside of the circle is the turkey yard.
Have the children on the outside sprinkle some turkey feed as the “turkey’s” move around the inside of the circle and wave their scarves. Then they can switch places.
Some good music for this activity is “Turkey in the Straw” or music by Aaron Copeland.
They can use their scarves to do the actions in “The Turkey Lurkey” song too. It’s also available on
SPOTIFY!
Or, your students may enjoy doing a Turkey Scarf Movement activity like this one.
Another fun song is “FIVE FAT TURKEYS ARE WE”
Here’s the way I use this activity.
Create a big circle.
Tell the children that the middle of the circle is the barnyard.
Choose some of the students to be turkeys. About 5 if you have at least 20 students.
Play some folk music or teach the children “Five Fat Turkey’s Are We”.
As the circle of students sings, have the 5 children move in the circle like turkeys.
Stop the music. (Or at the end of the song.) The children choose 5 new students to be the turkeys.
Next, you can have students who have had a turn being a “turkey”, play instruments until everyone is playing and singing.
Ultimately, this activity could be used over several class times and really build on singing and playing skills!
I love these kinds of “turkey” music and movement activities!
Let’s go to the farm and visit the turkeys! Yay!
“Gobble, gobble, gobble!”
Let’s find some instruments that might sound like a bunch of turkeys.
Have some instruments chosen for students to use.
Choose instruments that work for your grade level.
Thanksgiving Rhythm Activities LEVEL 1 : Quarter Note & Rest, Eighth Notes
Did I say 6th grade can do turkey music and movement activities?
Yes I did!
I believe that your 5th and 6th graders can use the recorder or the xylophone to compose a melodic phrase that resembles the sound of a turkey.
And- they’ll love creating stories and music to perform.
Do some experimentation.
Use this video as a starting point for your students to practice then create rhythmic and melodic patterns.
Play a nice bass steady beat for them and encourage them to improvise.
If your students know BAG, then you can play G steady beat.
Or, if the turkey is sad, play E for Em chord.
Next, have the students with smaller percussion instruments play their parts as solos.
Add the melodies as separate solos.
Then have everyone play together at the end of the song.
Be sure to experiment with dynamics.
Try beginning pianissimo and crescendo to fortissimo.
Create a RONDO
Rondo FORM can be ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA, or A-B-A-C-A-D-A.
Try having each instrument group be a section of the RONDO.
A- Shaker part
B- Rhythm Sticks
C-Turkey Gobble on Xylophone
D-All instruments together
Keep it simple!
Focus on giving students opportunities to experiment and create versus “perfect” music.
You may want to consider having students then write their parts and refine the RONDO during the next class period.
Use these Thanksgiving themed recorder songs as part of the Rondo.
Older students will love creating a story about their turkey.
Have them create a short story using just 5-8 sentences.
Then have them create rhythmic and melodic phrases for each sentence in the story, or action.
Use all of these ideas for a turkey literature, music and movement activity.
If you’re looking for any music instruments you’ll want to go to the INSTRUMENT PAGE.
This is where I’ve listed my favorite classroom instruments and movement props for your turkey music and movement activities.
Not only are turkey movement activities a fun way to keep students motivated in November, but November music lessons can be a great time to refine skills introduced in the first quarter.
Read this post to get the ideas for November Music Lessons “It’s Not Just About Turkeys”
Here are some more November music lesson ideas you can use with these yummy November music lesson ideas.
“Terrific Tips for Your November Music Lessons”
“November Music Class Stations”
“How to Get Students to Gobble Up the Beat”
You’ll want to check out our November music and movement activities right here in the Sing Play Create Shop!
Let’s get students moving and learning with turkey music and movement activities!
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Hi there! I’m Sandra, one of the authors behind Sing Play Create. My goal is to provide teachers with interactive resources and activities to improve the effectiveness of their teaching and enhance student learning.
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