With Thanksgiving just around the corner, if you’re anything like me, you’re busy working out how many people you need to cook for and who’s going to sit next to whom at the dinner.
However, Thanksgiving is so much more than just turkey and great food. It’s about giving thanks, being grateful, expressing our thankfulness to your heritage, our community and those we love.
That is the spirit of Thanksgiving and one that we can instill in our children and our own selves in fun and interesting ways.
Here are 5 fun ways to teach kids about Thanksgiving:
1. Read about Thanksgiving
Books are our window to the world and it’s no different with Thanksgiving. Reading together is not only a fabulous bonding activity but also, a great learning process.
Books like, The Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving, T is for Turkey: A True Thanksgiving Story and P is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet are wonderful ways to teach children about the Thanksgiving story and help them understand what this holiday is all about.
2. The Thanksgiving Dinner Table Game
This is a sweet and simple way to instill a spirit of being thankful in little ones. Before everyone digs in, have all the members of the family, share 3 things they’re thankful for this year.
It’s a great tradition and easy way for even the youngest to participate in Thanksgiving.
3. Express Gratitude by Sharing and Caring
Thanksgiving is all about being grateful, sharing our blessings and caring for the community.
Volunteering at the your favorite charity, donating to the Goodwill or Salvation Army cooking a lovely meal for an elderly and lonely neighbor or inviting them over are some sweet and simple ways to celebrate Thanksgiving while teaching our children what it’s all about.
4. Complete Thanksgiving Activity Sheets
The Internet has a TON of amazing Thanksgiving activity sheets that the kids can fill in while you cook dinner. The edHelper site, in fact, has some of my fave resources, including a Daily Thanksgiving Activity lesson book!
Scholastic, in fact, takes kids on a virtual Thanksgiving field trip and a trip back to The Mayflower via their The First Thanksgiving resource site.
It can be actually fun to do these together!
5. Make Thanksgiving Dinner Together
Finally, you can involve the family in the making and celebrating of Thanksgiving dinner. From setting the table to helping you mix the salad veggies or knead the bread dough, kids of all ages can help with prepping and preparing the Thanksgiving dinner and you can talk about the Pilgrims and how they’d have made certain things and also, about what each one of you is thankful for.
Do YOU have any fun family activities that infuse the spirit of Thanksgiving into the celebration?
About Prerna:
Prerna Malik is the owner of The Mom Writes, a site that offers smart solutions to work-at-home moms. When she isn’t blogging for a living or running a social media agency with her husband, she’s baking cupcakes with her daughter or organizing a closet in her home. Download her free eBooks on organizing and productivity for busy mom entrepreneurs today!
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