Education World has found some great sites for Thanksgiving fun. Whether you're looking for games, crafts, coloring pages, recipes, or even creative lesson plan ideas, one of these sites is sure to have what you need.
This year, Thanksgiving Day falls on November 22. In helping your students learn about this special holiday, why not augment your lessons with games, word puzzles, craft projects, and other fun activities? If you need some suggestions, take a look at the following Web sites:
Billy Bear's Playground Happy Thanksgiving
http://www.billybear4kids.com/
holidays/thanksgiving/thanksgiving.htm
Check out this Web site for a variety of games and projects with a Thanksgiving theme, including an interactive word-search puzzle, online games, two printable crossword puzzles, craft projects, and more.
Life on Plymouth Plantation
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/
activity/plymouth/index.html
To inject some fun into the study of Thanksgiving, take a look at this study unit from SCORE -- Schools of California Online Resources for Education. This excellent study unit includes activities in which students assume roles as actual children who sailed the on Mayflower. Participants write letters to family and friends left behind in England, study maps, study the types of dwellings of early settlers, and chart weather conditions. Best suited for students in third or fourth grade, this Web page is comprehensive, well designed, and easy to navigate.
Plimoth-on-Web Kids' Page
http://www.plimoth.org/Education/kidspage.htm
This page is a great place to look for games and riddles that might have been played or told by Pilgrim children. You can also print out a coloring page of Pilgrims planting corn or read up on fun facts about Pilgrim children. This page is part of the Web site of the Plimoth Plantation, Inc., a private, nonprofit living history museum.
Kinderart: Thanksgiving
http://www.kinderart.com/seasons/nov.shtml
Kinderart has more than half a dozen Thanksgiving activities, from making a Pilgrim doll out of paper bags to crafting a turkey from pinecones and hand tracings. The materials list for each project includes easily obtainable items, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Also included are Thanksgiving-themed coloring pages to print out.
Kids Domain Craft Exchange: Thanksgiving Crafts
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_Thanks.html
For dozens of Thanksgiving craft projects, check out this page. From Pilgrim costumes for beanbag animals to pinecone wreaths and homemade corn chips to pumpkin cake, this site has an endless supply of fun and educational holiday activities. The instructions are easy to follow and appropriate for elementary school students.
Thanksgiving Games
http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/games11.html-ssi
Some of these games are so old that the Pilgrim children might have actually played them at the first Thanksgiving! In addition to a few outdoor games, the site provides memory games, activities involving finding hidden objects, and more.
Kindergarten Lesson 1: Why Did the Plimoth Settlers Celebrate Thanksgiving?
This simple lesson plan for kindergarten students emphasizes learning about who the Pilgrims were, why they came to America, and how Thanksgiving is celebrated today.
A Time to Give Thanks: A Thanksgiving Unit Study
This Web page features a comprehensive study outline geared for students from the upper elementary grades through middle school. The study outline begins with information about religious dissension in 17th-century England and continues through the first Thanksgiving. The site includes suggestions for various exercises and activities throughout and a lengthy bibliography listing books to supplement classroom textbooks.
Article by Lauren P. Gattilia
Education World®
Copyright © 2007 Education World
Originally Published 10/26/2001
Links Updated 10/02/2007
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