Thursday, November 6, 2014

Teaching Toddlers Thanksgiving

Fun Facts for Kids


1. The pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower to North America where they landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
2. They called themselves the Plymouth Pilgrims, and their leader was William Bradford.
3. Wamponoug Native Americans were the people who taught the pilgrims how to cultivate the land. They attended the first Thanksgiving feast.
4. The first Thanksgiving feast was in 1621 and it lasted 3 days.
5. The first feast did not include the typical food found on the table in this day, but instead included: lobster, chicken, rabbit, fish, squash, beans, chestnuts, leeks, dried fruit, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese.
6. Abraham Lincoln made it an official holiday in 1863. {Sarah Hale nudged him along}.
7. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday.
8. Every year the president "pardons" a turkey and it is sent to live on a historic farm.
9. A male turkey gobbles, and a female turkey {hen} clucks.
10. A mature turkey will have approximately 3500 feathers.
11. A group of turkeys is called a flock.


Watch a Video


Crafts, crafts, crafts!

There are too many to list them all, but here are some of our favorites:









Make a Poster
Put pictures with little facts on a piece of paper to hang on the wall.
Let them participate by coloring in the letters and/or pictures. You can also just print out the images and have them color those and glue them on, or if you're like me and want a little practice in art, you can google "how to" for each image and draw them. Most people aren't as artistically challenged as me, so they most likely don't even need google.



Make a Book
I found a fun little print out where the kids can color in the pictures and then cut it out and staple it to make a book. Elli will carry this around all day and tell you the story of the pilgrims.

Decorate Bedroom Door

We did ours as the "Thankful" doors and put on leaves/Turkey feathers things that the kids are thankful for.


Make a Cornocopia
Here is a link to a blank cornocopia. Have the child write in what they are thankful for, or cut and paste pictures {pictures of family members/friends, or things out of magazines, etc}.


Color a picture, cut it out, and then put the pieces together {Puzzle}
You can either use cardstock, or print on a regular piece of paper and then paste it on a harder cardstock so that it is easier to put the pieces of puzzles together.



Hang up the Thanksgiving Words on the Wall

link
Print Worksheets

Thanksgiving Songs
The First Thanksgiving (Tune:The Muffin Man )
The Pilgrims came to America
America, America.
The Pilgrims came to America
a long, long time ago.
They sailed on the Mayflower
the Mayflower, the Mayflower.
They sailed on the Mayflower
a long, long time ago.
They made friends with the Indians
The Indians, the Indians.
They made friends with the Indians
a long, long time ago.
They planted seeds. The corn grew tall
The corn grew tall. The corn grew tall.
They planted seeds. The corn grew tall
a long, long time ago.
They had a great Thanksgiving feast
Thanksgiving feast, Thanksgiving feast.
They had a great Thanksgiving feast
a long, long time ago.

There is a print out for the song below and we made a book out of it, colored the pages, and then sang it together:

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Pilgrim_Pilgrim_Printable_Booklet.PDF

Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see the king refusing my plea.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see the Mayflower ready for sea.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see a new land to set me free.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see a hard winter, tough as can be.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see a green bud on a spring tree.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see an Indian helping me.
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see corn growing 1, 2, 3!
Pilgrim, Pilgrim, what do you see?
I see praise, for thankful are we!

Thanksgiving Bingo
Numbers one
Write the words

Rent Books from library, or buy them.u

We were able to check out a few Thanksgiving books to help with our learning, but the best one by far has been this book:


Reenact the History

Have stations with props and do a little skit for the kids. Example:

1. Station 1 is the Mayflower boat {we made ours out of pillows and had a sign on front that said Mayflower}, you can make one out of cardboard box}. Pretend you are a pilgrim on the boat and you are sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and it's taking you over 2 months to get to North America.

2. Have a "plymouth rock" station 2. Talk about where they landed.

3. Have a "winter" station and talk about how hard winter was for the pilgrims.

4. Next have a spring station and have Native American props so that you can pretend to help the pilgrims and talk about their relationship and how the Wampanoug Native Americans helped the pilgrims cultivate the land.

5. Lastly, host a Thanksgiving station.


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