Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey Craft for Thanksgiving
Looking for an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey craft to pair with your Thanksgiving read-aloud? This adorable Thanksgiving sequencing craft turns story retelling into a hands-on activity for kindergarten and first grade. Students build an Old Lady, then cut and paste seven picture cards onto her dress in sequential order.
I love how a simple craft can give young readers something concrete to talk about after a story. With a picture to match each event, students can practice using words such as first, next, then, and last while creating a project to take home.
Why Make an Old Lady Thanksgiving Sequencing Craft?
This November book companion combines reading comprehension, story sequencing, oral language, and fine motor practice. Instead of just answering questions about a read-aloud, children revisit what happened, organize the picture cards, and explain their choices as they assemble the craft.
The activity works well for a whole-group literacy lesson, a teacher-led small group, or a Thanksgiving reading center. Younger children can use the picture cards as visual supports, while confident readers can retell the story using complete sentences.
What Comes in the Thanksgiving Craft Printable?
- Old Lady paper craft pieces for students to assemble
- Seven cut-and-paste picture cards to sequence the story events
- Matching pocket chart picture cards for whole-group story retelling
- Color and black-and-white printing options for event images and pocket chart cards
The picture cards show the key objects from the Thanksgiving story, so students can match what they heard during the read-aloud onto the craft. The pocket chart cards are especially helpful for modeling before students work independently.
How to Get This Craft
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How to Use the Cut-and-Paste Story Retelling Craft
1. Read the Thanksgiving story together
Start with your favorite Old Lady turkey read-aloud. Pause to make predictions and ask children to pay attention to the order of events. You can briefly revisit the story before handing out the printable pages.
2. Practice sequencing with the pocket chart
Display the seven illustrated picture cards in your pocket chart. Invite students to help move them into story order and explain what happened first, next, and last. For extra oral-language practice, have partners take turns describing each picture.
3. Make the Old Lady craft
Give each child the printable craft pieces and sequencing pictures. Children color the black-and-white version if desired, cut out the pieces, and assemble their Old Lady. Then they arrange the seven picture squares in the correct order and glue them onto the numbered spaces on the dress.
4. Retell and display
Ask children to point to each picture and tell what happened in the story. Hang the finished projects in your classroom, add them to a reading response display, or send them home so students can retell the story to their families.
Easy Ways to Differentiate This November Literacy Activity
- Extra support: Keep the completed pocket chart sequence visible while children arrange their own cards.
- Partner work: Have one student order the cards while another explains the sequence.
- Challenge: Ask students to retell each event in a full sentence without looking back at the picture book.
- Fine motor focus: Let children color and carefully cut the craft pieces before gluing.
Get the Thanksgiving Old Lady Craft Printable
Ready to try this cut-and-paste sequencing activity with your students? Get the Thanksgiving Old Lady Sequencing Craft today.
If you love using book companion crafts all year long, you can also explore The Primary Parade membership options for access to more hands-on classroom resources.
More Thanksgiving and Book Companion Ideas
Keep the November learning going with these Thanksgiving activities for preschool and kindergarten, Thanksgiving fine motor activities, and book companion crafts for kindergarten. For a math connection, try this turkey number order craft next!
