Thursday, November 17, 2011

"Eat Or Be Eaten" Turkey Toss

turkey toss beanbag game, thanksgiving


It's eat or be eaten! This turkey toss game is a ton of fun with lots of educational variations. So play to learn or just to play! You could even use this game as entertainment for the kids on Thanksgiving while the adults are cooking and talking. 

Making the Game:


The adorable bean bag turkey was inspired by this post from one of my absolute favorite blogs, Almost Unschoolers. If you need instructions for this little turkey, be sure to visit her tutorial. Our turkeys are different, but it's the same basic concept. I sewed mine by hand, but you could also assemble your turkey with fabric glue. 

I printed the corn pictures from this website. I colored them, cut them out, and then laminated them to make them last. I made the plates by tracing two different sized plates and then laminated them as well. We like to take this game outside, and to prevent the turkey from getting dirty, we put the game pieces on a shower liner we got from the dollar store.

The Play:


thanksgiving fun, thanksgiving activity

The premise of "Eat Or Be Eaten" is to try and toss the turkey onto ears of corn. If your turkey lands on an ear of corn, he gobbles it up and you get a point. But be careful! Laid out among the corn pieces are plates. If you land on the plate the turkey is gobbled up and you lose a turn. You can adjust the difficulty by adding more plates and placing the corn closer to them, or by changing the distance of where you stand. 

It really is a ton of fun. R was so excited to play. He was giggling and squealing the entire time. 
And R loves this turkey and has thanked me daily for making him. He named him Gobble Gobble. It's appropriate, don't you think? He has wanted to sleep with him every night. Gobble Gobble quickly became a part of the family. Plus, he's fun to play with on his own!

toss the turkey, thanksgiving game


Variations on Ways to Play:


  • You could reinforce counting by two's and fives, by increasing the point value of the corn. 
  • You could use a dry erase marker to write a letter, number, math problem, sight word, etc on the bottom of each ear of corn to practice those skills in a fun way. {I love the lamination for that purpose as well. It's so easy to change it up by just wiping it off!} 
  • Instead of losing a turn when you land on a plate, you could lose all of your corn. 
  • The list goes on!

How would you play? Do you have any ideas for a fun bean bag game?

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18 comments:

  1. Your beanbag really turned out well! It is so cute. I love the hand-stitching. The game you made up is so cute, too. I bet my boys would love it, too. Great idea.

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  2. Gobble gobble is so cute. I wish I had your sewing skills.

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  3. Oh! Yours came out so cute - and I love the game :) Thanks for the nice words, and the great idea about using the shower curtain for outdoor play!

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  4. Oh that is such a cute idea!! I love it and I bet my kids would have a blast with it.

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  5. Thanks so much for sharing this idea at our Fall Fun Party. I just featured it in my Five Fun Ideas... post (and I'll be doing it myself with my kids on Thanksgiving!)

    http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2011/11/five-fun-ideas-for-turkey-and-pilgrim.html

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  6. Your turkey is so adorable!!! And what a fun game =)

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  7. So many things to say with this post. I love all the idea. I love that he loved that turkey. I think you are marvelous to have sewed him by hand. I love the game idea. What a great mom you are. Thanks for sharing on Monday Madness.

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  8. Joyce, so many fun ideas with this game. I love them all. Thanks for sharing on Monday Madness.

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  9. Cute!
    A popular game for our family at Thanksgiving is cornhole, have you heard of it? It uses beanbags and this turkey would be so cute to make for it. I'm pinning this for next year! Maybe I can make a few throughout the year and have them ready by next Thanksgiving.

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  10. Thank you so much Phyllis! I really appreciate the kind words. The turkey isn't perfect, but he was definitely made with love.

    Ali- I wouldn't wish my sewing skills on anyone! Haha. Thank you though. It doesn't have to be perfect though. Mine sure wasn't. It all comes together though, and a child would love that you made it. They are far less critical than we are.

    Thanks again for the inspiration, An Almost Unschooling Mom. We love taking anything outside and so I'm always looking for a way to make that possible.

    Thank you, Laura! Thanks so much for the kind words and feature! I'm excited! And I hope that you share with me how yours turns out!

    Katie, I want pictures of the awesomeness you create!

    Thank you, Maryanne! We have definitely had a lot of fun with it.

    Laura @art for little hands, your comment made me smile and blush! Thank you so much. You really made my day.

    Thanks for hosting such a fabulous linky, Brooke. I'm excited that I get to be a part of it. Thanks for stopping by!

    I haven't heard of that game, Aleacia! It sounds fun though. Lol. Love the name! I'll have to see if I can google it. I'm so glad you liked it. I'd love to see any you do make :)

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  11. Oh my gosh! This is adorable. My girls would love this but my sewing skills are not that good. So fun to take a common game but give it a holiday twist.

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  12. It really is a very easy sew. I bet you'd do just fine! I did and I definitely don't brag about my sewing skills! Lol. Thanks so much for the kind words! Maybe I'll make one and give it away next year, to a nonsewing person :)

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  13. What fun! So glad you linked this up to the Outdoor Play Linky!

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  14. That's it, you've inspired me to make some felt animals! I'm going to Spotlight (a craft and sewing shop) tomorrow so I'm going to make something Miss Possum asks me to. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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  15. Good luck, Penny! I'm sure yours will be fantastic. I can't wait to see the animals you make! Please let me know how it goes! And thanks for stopping by. :)

    Thank you, Beth. I'm glad you think so, and I appreciate your visit.

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  16. What a wonderful game! I love the beanbag. It is adorable!

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