Your kids will need to create a turkey cage in this STEM project because your Thanksgiving turkey keeps escaping!
My kids love the How to Catch series. Thus, we were ecstatic to discover a How to Catch a Turkey that would be ideal for Thanksgiving!.
The idea of the book centers on a turkey that escapes from a school right before a Thanksgiving play, and the kids have to help catch it. Don’t worry, no turkey is harmed in the making of this book!.
In an effort to ensure that we don’t have any escaped turkeys to trap this Thanksgiving, we decided to take on the Thanksgiving Turkey STEM challenge! We plan to solve the problem of escaped turkeys early on and build a cage to confine our turkeys.
If you want to stay true to the storyline of the book How to Catch a Turkey, you can use this challenge to make a turkey trap project. The design specifications are still the same, but instead of building a cage, you are building a trap to catch the turkey!
Gobble, gobble! The turkey is out there for Thanksgiving, but don’t worry, this isn’t your normal turkey hunt. Your kids will use their imaginations, creativity, and teamwork in this STEM-tastic adventure to construct a turkey trap deserving of a Thanksgiving feast.
Get ready to:
- Turn your classroom into a STEM lab: This activity is designed to engage students in real-world problem solving, encouraging them to think critically and apply their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math.
- Build a turkey trap: Using simple materials like masking tape, pipe cleaners, string, and cardboard, students will design and construct their own turkey traps. This hands-on activity will spark their imaginations and get them excited about engineering.
- Collaborate and communicate: Teamwork is key in this challenge. Students will need to work together to plan their designs, build their traps, and test their effectiveness. This will help them develop important communication and collaboration skills.
- Celebrate Thanksgiving with a STEM twist: This activity is a fun and engaging way to celebrate Thanksgiving while also learning about STEM concepts. It’s the perfect way to combine holiday cheer with educational value.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Materials: Masking tape, pipe cleaners, string, cardboard, and scissors.
- Time: Approximately 30 minutes for building the traps.
- Students: Divide them into groups of 3-4.
The challenge:
- Your family forgot to get a turkey for Thanksgiving, and the stores are all sold out!
- Your mission: Design and build a turkey trap to catch a turkey for your Thanksgiving feast.
How to play:
- Explain the scenario to your students.
- Allow them time to plan out their designs individually and as a team.
- Provide them with the materials and let them get to work building their traps.
- Sit back and watch as they engage in real-world problem solving.
- At the end of the activity, have students describe and demonstrate how their traps work.
Bonus:
- Read the book “How to Catch a Turkey” by Adam Wallace. This hilarious story will get your students even more excited about the turkey-catching challenge.
- Join the FREE Facebook group Elementary STEM Teachers Club. Learn more about how to incorporate STEM in your classroom and collaborate with other STEM teachers.
This Thanksgiving, ditch the traditional turkey chase and embrace the excitement of STEM. Your students will love this activity as they gain useful skills and commemorate the holiday in a special and unforgettable way.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Turkey Cage STEM Challenge Printable
This turkey cage STEM activity is a way to sharpen your kids’ problem-solving and engineering skills. It can be used in the classroom or even at a Thanksgiving gathering to keep the kids busy while they wait for dinner!
This Thanksgiving STEM activity is designed for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students. The complete set of printables for this Thanksgiving STEM activity includes:
- Teacher instructions for turkey cage
- Turkeys template
- Student instructions for turkey cage (4 versions)
- Student planning page
- Student self-evaluation sheet
I included 4 versions of the student instruction sheet. Depending on which version you choose, the students can either keep the bird alive or put it in a cage for Thanksgiving dinner. You also get a choice of whether or not you are holding multiple turkeys in the cage.
You can have your kids design the turkey cage together to help them with social and cooperative skills.
Give your students a deadline to design and build their turkey traps if you’re using this STEM project for Thanksgiving in the classroom. I recommend giving them about 5-10 minutes for brainstorming and design and then 20 minutes for construction.
Build a Turkey Cage STEM Challenge
- Pipe cleaners, masking tape, straws, toilet paper rolls, tiny marshmallows, and toothpicks are among the materials needed to assemble the cage.
- Free turkey cage challenge template: Use the link at the bottom of this page to download the printable version.
1. Determine how many turkeys you would like the cage to hold. We decided to go with 3.
2. Print out the free printable turkeys template, cut out the turkeys, and tape the bottom tabs together. Your turkey(s) should be able to stand on its own.
3. Give your kid materials to build the cage.
I suggest giving him a limited number of materials because too many choices could be overwhelming. You can always repeat the challenge with another set of materials. We used marshmallows and toothpicks for our challenge.
4. Have your child build the cage, jump in to help only if necessary. Let him use his imagination to come up with the cage design!.
5. After the cage is finished, test to see if the cage can hold the turkey(s). Ask him what improvements would he implement to the cage, if any.
My kids love these kinds of STEM challenges because there are so many possibilities for what they can achieve. They could use their imagination and creativity to come up with all kinds of cages!.
Here’s a potential cage design that can hold three turkeys, in case you decide to use toothpicks and marshmallows like we did.
My kids first started building the cage by constructing a fence around the turkey. They realized that the fence was not very tall and that the turkeys could jump over it.
Then we constructed a roof to the cage so that the turkey couldn’t get out from the top.
When I asked my kids how we could make the cage better, they suggested making it stronger and adding a door so the turkeys could come and go.
We ended up adding a few more sticks to strengthen the cage, but we couldn’t figure out how to build a cage door. Perhaps next time with different supplies!.
Trap a Turkey – STEM Lesson
FAQ
How to Catch a Turkey book summary?
What is a Turkey cage stem activity?
This turkey cage STEM activity is a way to sharpen your kids’ problem-solving and engineering skills. You can use it in a classroom with your students and even at a Thanksgiving party to keep the kids entertained while waiting for dinner! This Thanksgiving STEM activity is designed for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students.
How do you catch a Turkey for Thanksgiving?
Your family forgot to get a turkey for Thanksgiving and the stores are all sold out! In order to get a turkey for your Thanksgiving feast, you are going to have to design and build a turkey trap to catch a turkey. Allow students time to plan out their designs individually and as a team.
What is the Thanksgiving turkey STEM Challenge?
The premise of the book is that a turkey is running loose in a school right before a Thanksgiving play, and the kids have to help catch it. Don’t worry, no turkey is harmed in the making of this book! In the spirit of making sure we don’t have any runaway turkeys to trap this Thanksgiving, we took up the Thanksgiving Turkey STEM challenge!
Is there a ‘how to catch a Turkey’ book for Thanksgiving?
So we were super excited when we saw that there was a How to Catch a Turkey that is perfect for Thanksgiving! The premise of the book is that a turkey is running loose in a school right before a Thanksgiving play, and the kids have to help catch it. Don’t worry, no turkey is harmed in the making of this book!