The Patience Turkey

I love Thanksgiving time,

But I wanted to do more than just make a turkey craft.

 

So I dug into my files,

And found the story about the turkey that had a temper.

This little turkey had such a temper that he turned red.

His friend the owl told him to say "Patience" seven times.

When he did he changed back to brown, except one tail feather.

 

He turned blue when he was sad, green when he was jealous, yellow when he was scared, white when he was really trying to be patience, and was tickled pink when he succeeded. 

As we read it, Miss Sassy would put the feather on the turkey.

Ours were just put on with brads.

 

She was cute and would repeat, "patience" seven times to go along with the story. And for the rest of the day this story seemed to help her.

So here's what I had in my files. (Don't mind my little foot.)  And it is super easy to make.  Just find a black and white turkey clip art.

Like the one here. And print it off on the different colors of paper.

 

So the next day, Miss Sassy let her temper flare up again,

So I decided she needed to really connect with this story.

We made a turkey, and as I read the story, she painted the feathers the correct color.

 

It's not the prettiest turkey, but it sure helped her to remember the story!

 

Here is the Patience Turkey Story:

How the Turkey Got His Tail Feathers

Once there was a little brown turkey who had a terrible temper! He often flew into tantrums and screamed and cried until he was the
nuisance of the farmyard. One day, he lost his temper because one of the chickens wouldn't share a toy. He got so angry he flew into a tantrum and turned as red as a beet! The other turkeys laughed at him and teased him and sang:
"You're red! Red! Red as a beet!
Red from your head to the tip of your feet!"
Tom Turkey didn't like the other turkeys laughing at him so he ran away and hid. He sat and sulked for a long time. When he calmed down he looked at himself and saw that he really was red all over! Red from his head to his feet!
He hurried to the edge of the farm to visit Dr. Owl who was wise and knew the answers to everything. "You will have to learn to control that temper of yours." hooted Dr. Owl. "You must say the magic word 'PATIENCE' seven times." Tom tried it and he turned brown again, except that he had a red feather in his tail. 

Tom's mother called him to come help with the Monday wash. But Tom got the Blues as soon as he had to start working. He moaned and groaned until Mother told him, he was acting like a baby. Well, you can guess what happened next! He lost his temper again! This time he
turned blue. His face was blue - from his head to his toe he was blue
all over. When the other turkeys saw him, they teased and sang: "You're Blue! Blue! From your head to your toe,  Blue all over, Wherever you go!" Tom ran away and hid and then he remembered what the wise owl told him and he said, "Patience, patience, patience, patience, patience, patience, patience." Tom was a brown turkey again.  It had worked!  Now he had a blue feather next to the red one in his tail.

Well, you can about guess what happened the rest of the week. On Tuesday,  He was beginning to feel ashamed to think he couldn't control himself when he wanted to. He went out for his daily walk when he saw a turkey friend eating a big corn cob. Tom was green with envy because he didn't have one. Before he knew it, Tom turned green all over! And when he saw his color he threw another temper tantrum.
The turkeys again saw him and shouted,
"You're green! Green! Green as grass!
Why don't you get wise And stop all of your sass!"
Of course, Tom Turkey went and hid under his favorite tree. He said, "Patience, patience,....(repeat seven times.) Tom was brown again, but he now had a green feather added to his tail. His tail was becoming very bright and colorful.

On Wednesday, all of the turkeys were playing football.  They threw the ball to Tom, but he was afraid that the ball would hit him, so he didn't catch it.  "You chicken!  Why didn't you catch it!"  Tom turned a bright yellow.  All his friends shouted, "He really is a yellow chicken! Look at him!"  Tom ran and hid.  He quickly said, "Patience, patience, patience" seven times.  And now he was brown again except a beautiful yellow tail feather that remained.

Something was happening to Tom Turkey. He was beginning to really want to change. He wanted to keep his temper. He was really going to try.  On Thursday, when all the turkeys would not let him play with them, he said, "Patience, patience, patience" seven times.  He was so wise now, he turned white.  A white turkey was very important and respected.  All of his friends followed him around and were very amazed by him.  He was brown again but he had a white feather added to his colorful tail. Tom decided this was the day to really change. He didn't say a word to anyone and kept saying to
himself, "I can do it, I can do it!"

 Friday, he kept calm and he was tickled pink to think he had gone two days without a temper tantrum. He was still a little brown turkey and a very happy one too.
He reported back to Dr. Owl on Saturday and Tom thanked him for his
So, when you go to the farm and see the turkey strut about with his fan shaped tail all unfolded, remember how Tom the turkey used patience to control his temper.