Thanksgiving is almost here and some of you (like myself) may be scrambling to find some good activities/videos to watch with your home schooled cubs about this holiday (at least if you're in America). Fear not! I've got you covered.
Here's a really good video about the true origins of the American Thanksgiving. Very informative for such a short video. My Kindergartener was able to sit through it and has asked to watch it again several times.
Also here's another video, though this one is for older kids as it has some violence in it. It is specifically about the pilgrims and the Native Americans.
Ok, so you've got some educational value to give your cub now, but what about fun activities for them to do? Well, we all know you can draw a hand turkey and color it, but there's got to be something better than that, right?
Check out our options this year:
The Picky Apple will show you how to make awesome turkey hand puppets. We made one (not this one) and gave it some sparkle with our favorite... glitter glue.
You can also check out how to make our Cheerio Turkey here, or for a less flashy yet still tasteful version, make it out of Fruit Loops.
Instead of making a pumpkin place mat, why not make a turkey place mat? Or a settler place mat? Or how about one with corn and fish? Check out the tutorial here.
If you're feeling in the thankful mood or want to teach the cubs about thankfulness, head over to Crafts For All Seasons to learn how to make this Thankful Turkey.
Or if you really want to get away from turkey crafts, make a thankful leaf wall decoration! I've also seen thankful trees being made!
For a more involved and tastier project, make some Indian Corn place cards with Holiday Crafts and Creations! Yum.
Other ideas:
- How about making a Lego re-creation of the first Thanksgiving?
- The kids could put on a 2-5 minute Thanksgiving play for the family on Thanksgiving day (or a puppet show).
- You can take the kids to the local mission to donate food or help prepare food on Thanksgiving or the day before Thanksgiving to teach them about giving to others.
- You can let them pick out canned foods to donate and take them to the local food bank to donate food to teach them about giving back.
- You can adopt a needy family and invite them to Thanksgiving to give them some more things to be thankful for :)
- You and the kids can take leftovers from Thanksgiving night or make up plates of Thanksgiving dinner to take to homeless people who live on the streets. Pack it up on a paper plate and cover it in tin foil. Be sure to take napkins and plastic forks/spoons with you, as well as a thermos of coffee with creamer in it and some large paper cups. They will be so grateful!
- Along with taking food to homeless people on the streets, you can also prepare small care packages for them to give to them. Some things you might include are:
- Hand lotion
- Sanitizer
- Small bottles of shampoo
- Toothpaste and new Toothbrush
- Tissue paper
- Feminine products if you're going to give it to women
- A zip lock bag of dog food for those homeless people with pets
- New socks
- One size fits all gloves
- One size fits all beanies
- A $5 calling card so they can call their loved ones
- Individually wrapped candy
- Gift cards to somewhere they can get their hair cut
- Shirts in good condition
- Bottled water
- Fresh fruit
- Granola bars
- Energy bars
- Individually wrapped cookies (or home made cookies in zip lock bags)
- Extra blankets if you can afford them or have them.
...These are just ideas of what you might give, obviously you don't have to give everything on the list.
Don't forget that it doesn't just have to be an art project that you do to get the kids involved with Thanksgiving this year. They have things to be thankful for, but they can also help give other people things to be thankful for.
Do you have ideas for what your cubs can do on or around Thanksgiving! Let us know in a comment :)
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