At the absolutely last minute (last night at 9pm), I decided to postpone our typical homeschool curriculum and come up with a Two-Week-Long Thanksgiving Lesson Plan. I went to bed very, very late last night…but after several hours of brainstorming and preparation, I am excited to share with you my vision for the next two weeks of our Thanksgiving-themed School!
The number one priority for me when planning our Thanksgiving curriculum was: Keep It Simple. I want us to truly enjoy the next two holiday weeks! I want to have fun with my kids while leisurely learning about the history and importance of Thanksgiving.
I’m going to give you my overall vision for the next two weeks, and every day I will also share the lesson we did.
The Big Picture
I knew that I wanted to include these three components into my plan:
- A study of the history of the First Thanksgiving
- A time to reflect on thankfulness
- A learning game that incorporates a Thanksgiving theme
Three components…easy enough!
Item number one, the history lesson, is the meat and potatoes of the whole thing. I found a great children’s version of the First Thanksgiving. I will read it to them every morning and then ask a few comprehension questions.
Then we will work on our First Thanksgiving Book! This is a great idea that I found on another mom’s blog. Every day, your child adds another page to their own little book. It goes step-by-step through the history of the First Thanksgiving. It’s adorable!
For item number two, I decided that we would do a Thankfulness Tree.
It’s very simple. You print out a picture of a bare tree. They color it. You ask them what is one thing that they are thankful that God has given them. Write it on a paper leaf. They glue it on the tree. Thankfulness Tree!
And finally, item number three…the game. This took a little brainstorming on my part. I decided that the game would line up with whatever page we created in the My First Thanksgiving Book. For example, the first page of the book that we made introduced who the pilgrims are and why they left England. So I came up with a game that goes hand-in-hand with that concept.
Today’s Lesson
Now I’m going to put some meat on that skeleton outline for you!
Today was day number one in our two-week Thanksgiving Curriculum journey! There were definitely some kinks, but I’m figuring this out as I go. 🙂
When it was time for “school” to start, I brought my two boys in (ages 2 and 4), and asked them what they thought of when I said “Thanksgiving.” They shared some little ideas, and then I moved into sharing with them the real story of why we have Thanksgiving. I read them this version, complete with goofy voices and as many sounds effects as I could come up with:
Children’s Version of the First Thanksgiving
They loved it! And at the end of the story, I asked them a few simple comprehension questions. It always amazes me how much young children can absorb.
Next, I explained to them that we were going to make our very own book that shared the story of the First Thanksgiving, and every day we would add a page to it.
Here is the link to the book we made:
Today we made the cover page and page one. Since I have two children that I’m doing this with, they each put a turkey handprint on the front page, and they each made a pilgrim face on page one. Oh my goodness, it is so cute! 🙂
Next, we talked about thankfulness. “The pilgrims had hardly any food, but they still loved and trusted God. God has given us SO much! What is one thing that you are thankful that God has given you?” Rudy told me that he was thankful for yogurt, and Mark said that he is thankful for God. Hmmmm… 🙂
This is the printable Thankfulness Tree that we are using:
And finally, the game! Since today we focused on the very first part of the Thanksgiving story (the Puritans and their religious persecution), I came up with a game called “Hide the Bibles.” Haha!
Basically, the mean old King of England was coming, and was going to throw anyone in jail that he caught with a Bible. Rudy and Mark’s job was to hide the Bibles (the “Bibles” were printed out pictures of Bibles from Google Images) before the king caught them.
Here’s how it went down:
I made a knocking sound on the wall. “The King is here! Quick, hide the Bibles!” “Rudy, you hide five bibles under the chair, and Mark, you hide three Bibles in the desk! Hurry, the King is coming!”
We did this A LOT…they loved it! Not only were they having fun, but they were counting and thinking fast.
I ended the game by having a short little convo with them about how we can read our Bibles and pray wherever and whenever we want.
So that’s the end of day one! Whew! I hope this serves as an encouragement and a tool for you and your own children. Any other Thanksgiving Curriculum ideas out there? Please share!
Header picture provided by: Jack Newton
