MAGICAL TURKEY DRUMSTICK RELAY: K-5 Fun Thanksgiving PE Game
Hey PE Teachers – Get ready for some serious festive fun with the MAGICAL TURKEY DRUMSTICK RELAY. This K-5 Thanksgiving PE Game is one you’ve definitely got to play with your physical education classes this November.
Turkey Drumstick Relay
Students will have an absolute blast as they work together and ride the magical turkey drumstick (extra long pool noodle) racing against each other to gather food for their “very hungry” Thanksgiving guests waiting to be fed.
The Magical Turkey Drumstick Relay is ideal for practicing teamwork, coordination and just plain old fashioned fun.
This Thanksgiving-themed physical education activity lets students race, balance, and laugh their way through a creative relay.
Designed for elementary PE classes, this holiday game builds coordination, movement skills, and classroom spirit while celebrating the Thanksgiving season in an active, memorable way.
Perfect for November gym lessons, station rotations, or school-wide fall events!
SNAG the FULL LESSON PLAN PDF Right Here
Hi there, it’s so great to meet you! I’m Mrs. T. (Love 2 Teach and Learn) or you can call me Jen – a Michigan mom, wife, new grandma (aka “Jemma”) and K-12 PE teacher who has also taught Kindergarten, 3rd, and 6th grades.
I love teaching PE class because I get to spend time telling silly jokes and exercising while laughing with my students.
READY! SET! LET’S PLAY!
Magical Turkey Drumstick Relay is so much fun. I just know you are going to love playing it with your kiddos this Thanksgiving season.
Equipment Needed
For this Awesome Thanksgiving gym game you will need:
- 3-5 LONG POOL NOODLES
- FOOD SQUISHIES, PLAY FOOD or BEAN BAGS
- KIDS READY TO HAVE FUN
Easy Game Set-Up
FIRST, Divide the class into teams of three or four students.
THEN, Have them line up with their teams at one end of the gym.
NEXT, Give each team a long pool noodle and a hula hoop.
FINALLY, Scatter several play food pieces, squishies or bean bags on the gym floor, on the opposite side of the gym from where the students are lined up.
Game Directions
Explain to the students that it is Thanksgiving Day and 50 people suddenly showed up at their house for dinner but they have no food in the house to feed them.
The turkey drumstick (pool noodle) is magical because it can fly to the grocery store super fast.
When the relay begins, all students must hop on and ride on the drumstick (see photo below) together, traveling to the grocery store (food at the opposite end of the gym) as a team.
For each trip down the gym floor to the grocery store, teams are allowed to choose only one food item to bring back and add to their hula hoop, which is their Thanksgiving dinner table.
When all of the food items have been collected, have the students count up how many items they each collected.
The team with the most food collected for their Thanksgiving feast wins the turkey drumstick relay.
Game Tips for Turkey Drumstick Relay
TIP 1: I like to play the song LINUS And LUCY by Vince Guaraldi from the soundtrack “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” when I play this game with my students. It’s the perfect Thanksgiving Shopping Song.
TIP 2: Fun food squishies (like pizza, ice cream and hot dogs) are a blast to use with this game. I also have a few rubber chickens that I use and tell the kids to pretend that they are the turkeys. However, if you don’t have squishies you can just use different colored bean bags for the food instead.
TIP 3: I recommend making your teams with 3-4 students. That seems to be the perfect number for this activity. Two is not quite enough for fun and five makes it pretty difficult for all of the students to comfortably ride on the drumstick.
*This game works well with K-5 students but the real sweet spot is with 2nd – 5th graders.
Happy Thanksgiving
So, what do you say? Why not blast some “clean” and upbeat PE music , maybe tell a few funny sports jokes and bring the excitement of MAGICAL TURKEY DRUMSTICK RELAY to your gymnasium today!
Don’t forget – you can snag your very own copy of this easy, fun, NO PREP lesson plan RIGHT HERE.
Mrs. T’s K-5 PE GAMES GROWING BUNDLE
And if you want the absolute BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK, Magical Turkey Drumstick Relay is also included in my “ALWAYS GROWING” K-5 PE Game GROWING BUNDLE too!
You can snag my Physical Education HUGE GROWING BUNDLE Right Here!
Your physical education lesson plans will definitely level up when you add Turkey Drumstick Relay to your Thanksgiving Stations and PE Class Schedule.
Thanks so much for stopping by today and spending some time with me.
I really appreciate it and I hope that you have a TRULY BLESSED And BEAUTIFUL Day spent laughing until your cheeks hurt!
