Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving is an American tradition. Giving thanks is an important lesson for children to learn any time of year. At Thanksgiving it’s especially important. There are many ways to approach this lesson. First and foremost is modeling thankfulness for children and to use please and thank you throughout your interactions with them and others. Leading by example will take you far in this regard. Your children will begin to use these polite words when you show them that it’s expected.

Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving For Healthy Foods

  Giving thanks on Thanksgiving with a horn of plenty. This cornucopia is something is fun to fill with pictures of healthy foods cut from old magazines. Older kids can cut out the foods they like. Look for the cornucopia pattern for Free on Printables!

  We made a chart to differentiate healthy from junk food.

Healthy foods in the cornucopia.

Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving For Family

We have the parents send in family photos which we scrapbook onto an individual house patterens, one for each child. We hang the houses on a large bulletin board through December. Then we bind them into a book which becomes so popular the kids argue over who gets a turn with the family book! I can’t show you the book here because I won’t put the children’s pictures online.

  Three year olds told their their teacher about the people in their family. The teacher drew these pictures based on what the children told her about their families.

  Each child chose paint to match their skin color, and made a handprint. Next teachers added facial features to each finger. Flesh tones of all shades can be achieved by starting with brown and adding white to lighten it until you have the desired tone. The song Where Is Thumbkin is perfect for this activity.

  Our question of the day will be about our families. Do you have a brother? The names should rise from the bottom row so the children can clearly see which column has more.

  The children in this class drew their own pictures of their families.

  You can find the folding pattern for this house on Nov. Preschool Themes. The pattern for this house is Free on Printables!

Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving

The first thing we do is talk about the feeling of thankfulness. We relate it to reccieving a gift. We teach the children to say thank you with words and American Sign Language.

 Every child gets a feather and dictates what or who they’re thankful for. You’ll find the pattern for these turkey feathers on Printables! for Free.

Art

     And for open ended art the children paint with feathers, because you know feathers grow on turkeys!