Drawing Turkeys in Kindergarten

What do you do in the days prior to Thanksgiving break when all the kids can think about is a holiday?  It's useless to try to begin a new project because that always ends in disappointment so I decided to incorporate a lesson on shapes and lines into a drawing a turkey with my kinders this year.  After all, if  you can't beat the problem, find a way to make it work for you.  They turned out so darling I had to share the finished products with all of you.  I started by having the students do a "directed drawing".  I borrowed that term from another blogger over at the Tiny Art Room because I really like how official  it sounds.   I've always called these "follow the leader drawings."  Don't you like the Directed Drawing term better?  Students drew a long thin curved line for the head, added a zigzag collar underneath and then drew a circle beginning on one side of the curved line, extending underneath and stopping at the other side.  It was a precursor to the discovery of using space in art which was further practiced as tail feathers made by drawing long skinny curves were added behind the turkey's body and head.  Parallel curved lines with zig zag line feet completed the legs and feet and curved lines added to the sides of the circle created wings.  An angle for the beak and oval, circle, and dot created the eyes.  At this point student's personal creativity kicked in as they completed the backgrounds and added color to their turkey creations.  I love how these came out.  With Kinders it is the constant encouragement to take it one step further and develop a completed composition but I am always thrilled as they take hold of their work and imaginatively create their art.