I found this neat Thanksgiving printable that I really love.
I printed it out and can’t wait to use it this Thursday for our Thanksgiving table. It would be good to laminate it, but my laminator is still in a box.
The place cards have a conversation starting question or task for them to do, such as “What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?” or “What are you thankful for?”.
We are getting pretty excited about Thanksgiving around here.
We have read “‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving”.
‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
It was really funny. We all enjoyed it.
We also read “Thanksgiving at the Tappletons”.
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons
It was also really funny.
Some other good books to read in the days leading up to Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving Day at Our House Kelsey’s favorite! She reads this to the younger kids every Thanksgiving.
Thelonius Turkey Lives Kelsey likes this story and the recipe at the end for Sweet Potato Casserole. There’s another recipe in it, too, for Thelonius’ Feather Cookies.
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh – enough information to be interesting, story about the Hopkins family, but easy enough for younger readers to read. This is a chapter book and covers the main topics of the Pilgrims, Indians and the First Thanksgiving.
Pete the Cat and the First Thanksgiving This is a lift-the-flap book. I haven’t actually read it yet, but I like Pete the Cat’s other books, so I assume I will like this one, too.
The Story of the Pilgrims Introduction to the story for younger children.
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 Informative, makes kids think about what it must have been like to be a Pilgrim.
Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks Helps younger children understand why celebrate Thanksgiving – so we can give thanks! To God, for those of us who believe in Him. And to have a thankful attitude, in general.
The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving Good for ages 4-8, tells what it was like for Pilgrims in terms children can relate to, but describes hardships in a way they can handle.
Squanto’s Journey – lots of information about the details of Squanto’s life.
Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl – uses actual photographs of a 10 year old girl in period dress who reenacts Pilgrim life at reconstructed Plimoth Plantation.
Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy Same format as Sarah Morton’s Day, but for boys!
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas – well-researched, historically accurate.
Another fun book to read is A Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin. The price for this at Amazon is ridiculous. I would get it at the library if it’s available. There are no copies available in our library system here. It is a very popular book. Here’s a summary of the story:
“Every year Grandmother invited a guest for Thanksgiving dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same. “Ask someone poor or lonely,” she always said. Thanksgiving was Grandmother’s favorite day of the year. The cooking was done and her famous cranberry bread was cooling on a wooden board. But she wasn’t happy to find out Maggie had invited the unsavory Mr. Whiskers to dinner. Would her secret cranberry bread recipe be safe with him in the house? After a long absence this delightful 1971 classic is back. So is Grandmother’s secret recipe!” The recipe is included at the end of the book.
Here is a fun way to learn more about Thanksgiving. A project pack from Hands of a Child for only $7.99. I recommend the lapbook ebook download or the Note Pack, which is like a lapbook but made to just put in a notebook instead of cutting little booklets. Students write information which is provided in the research guide.
Thanksgiving Curriculum from Hands of a Child
And no Thanksgiving celebration would be complete without A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bgIh-juSwE&list=PLZn_xw1XiMNYtb6stLaLHG2Hzd4fMB0Q1
This cupcake idea would be fun to do to go along with the movie. This idea is on my Pinterest page and comes from here.
And here’s the story of the First Thanksgiving told by the Peanuts gang. Click on the YouTube button so it will go automatically from one clip to the next.
http://youtu.be/8xlY4B0y_Pg?list=PLbmsjgfVXtPQRB8kgTkQeMUV3c8BXfiqS
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller
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