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The following is a post from contributing writer, Tanya, of Finding the Teachable Moments.
Thanksgiving holds so many opportunities for fun and learning. Here are some ideas and resources for a variety of Thanksgiving themed topics.
The Mayflower Voyage
We checked this book out from the library last year and my boys absolutely loved it! It’s a funny depiction of two real-life brothers who traveled to America on the Mayflower and got into all kinds of mischief along the way.
. . . If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620
This is another book we borrowed from the library last year. It’s non-fiction and packed full of information, but written in language easy for children to follow.
School Time Snippets shared a really cool activity for learning Mayflower facts. See how they used it as both a puzzle and a lift-the-flap project. Very clever!
Native Americans
Squanto, Friend Of The Pilgrims (Scholastic Biography)
I chose this as our chapter book read-aloud last year. It tells the lesser known part of the Thanksgiving story, Squanto’s life and role in helping the Pilgrims. A very interesting read (but kind of sad).
Another option is Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving
, a picture book version of Squanto’s story.
His Mercy is New made this snack to illustrate how Squanto helped the Pilgrims learn to plant and fertilize corn.
The First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation (The Time-Traveling Twins)
This book is full of history and includes illustrations of Thanksgiving food eaten back then compared to the traditional Thanksgiving feasts we enjoy today.
Scholastic offers a free printable activity to get kids thinking about Thanksgiving then and Thanksgiving now. It would be a great compliment to the book. Scholastic also has a wonderful site full of resources dedicated to learning about The First Thanksgiving. It includes a virtual field trip and lesson plan ideas for all grade levels.
How Thanksgiving became a holiday
Sarah Gives Thanks: How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday
This is the story of the woman who dedicated her life to making Thanksgiving a national holiday. A lovely addition to any Thanksgiving book basket!
Turkey Themed Learning
Criss Cross Applesauce shares some more color by number Turkeys for younger learners. She includes printable turkey math for numbers 1-5 , simple addition, and teen numbers for preschoolers and kindergarteners.
Thanksgiving Themed Printables
I love using printable packs. They are an easy way to incorporate themed learning into our school time. I think many activities in the packs can be used with early elementary aged children along with preschoolers.
I love the way Deb Chitwood presents a selection of Thanksgiving printable activities. In the photo above, she prepared an activity for clapping syllables using a themed printable. See her post on Pre-K and K Sharing for more Thanksgiving printable ideas!
Here are a few Thanksgiving printable packs that can be used with children ranging in age from toddler to early elementary:
T is for Thanksgiving by Oopsey Daisy
Thanksgiving Printable Pack from Homeschool Creations
Thanksgiving Pack from 3 Dinosaurs
Gratitude
A good book to get kids thinking about what they are thankful for!
I love this creative idea from Fantastic Fun and Learning. Read Shaunna’s post and see how to take advantage of the season to emphasize gratitude, and end up with a sweet centerpiece for your thanksgiving table!
Tanya is a homeschooling mom of three who is passionate about hands-on learning. She blogs at Finding the Teachable Moments about unit studies, learning through play, and activities for preschoolers and elementary aged kiddos. Follow along with her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. These don’t change the price you pay, but they do help this writer. Thanks!
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this looks like alot of fun and learning by fun
Thank you Brenda!
I wasn’t able to access the Mayflower facts book from Our Homeschool Fun. It said that it was only available to invited readers??
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I’m sorry! The link worked when I wrote the post, but it seems the privacy settings have changed since then. I had the link and photo removed from this post, but here is a link to a similar Mayflower Fact book : http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2010/11/if-you-sailed-on-mayflower.html
Hope that helps 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Thanks for sharing my Squanto snacks! 🙂 My kids LOVE learning when a snack is involved.
So do mine! I really wanted to make some Squanto snacks with my kiddos last year, but could not find a bit of candy corn at my local grocery store. Apparently I they were sold out from halloween. So this year I was sure to set some aside! It’s such a fun and memorable way to learn about how Squanto helped the Pilgrims. 🙂
Great list of resources, Tanya! Thanks so much for featuring my post from PreK + K Sharing. I pinned your post to my Kids’ Thanksgiving Activities Pinterest board. 🙂
Thank you, Deb! I just love to see how you set up different printable activities. 🙂