Have you thought about hosting some pre-Thanksgiving activities in your child’s preschool? With the proper coordination with your preschool learning center, there are simply so many options for Thanksgiving-themed activities that are both fun and meaningful!
Singing Songs
A simple yet effective way to get your preschoolers into the Thanksgiving spirit is through singing songs. Work with your preschool learning center and choose songs that are connected to the season of Fall, as well as Thanksgiving. During the singing sessions, use gestures connoting Fall. So, for example, ask the preschoolers to stretch out their arms and shake their hands to pretend that they’re like trees in Autumn time. Or, they can lower their hands and wiggle their fingers, indicating that leaves are falling. They can then stomp, showing the much-loved activity of stomping on leaves on the ground during Fall. Or, they can pretend they’re turkeys by doing flapping their arms up and down.
Reading Books
Get your preschoolers to read books that would introduce them to the history of Thanksgiving. A good Thanksgiving book option is the “Word Bird’s Thanksgiving Words” written by Jane Belk Moncure. It’s a great way for kids to understand what Thanksgiving-specific words are, like the Mayflower or pilgrims. This book introduces these words to them through the use of pictures. Another book, written by Rhonda Gowler Greene called, “The Very First Thanksgiving Day”, provides a general history of the sequence of events of Thanksgiving, that is, the pilgrims journeying to America, their trials and tribulations, the help they received from the Native Americans, and lastly, their three day Thanksgiving feast. Another book to consider is Anne Rockwell’s “Thanksgiving Day”. It has a play format, so children can use this book to act out Thanksgiving scenes. Apart from coordinating with your preschool, check out some preschool learning websites for some more children-friendly Thanksgiving books.
Putting Up a Thanksgiving Play
Get your preschoolers to act out the classic Thanksgiving story. Ask your preschool for help on making the props. Prepare Pilgrim hats, Native American headdresses, and bonnets. Since you’re dealing with preschoolers, stick with the basics when it comes to the play. Just put the pilgrims together and ask this group to pretend that they’re on a boat, sailing. Afterwards, ask them to pretend that they have reached land. The Native American group would then come and help them. As a team, they would plant and get food. Afterwards, everyone enjoys a feast.
Making Puppets
A fun, simple, and affordable Thanksgiving craft is making puppets! If you’re hosting a Thanksgiving event for your child’s preschool, provide the preschoolers with crayons, glue stick, brown paper lunch bags, and construction paper. With these, ask them to create turkey puppets. Also, with the help of their teachers, they can write something they’re thankful for on the turkey (how about on each feather of the turkey?).
“Cooking” Turkey Toast
With a cookie cutter shaped into a big turkey, let the preschoolers cut out shapes from bread (white, wheat, multi-grain…it’s up to you and them!). Then, ask them to spread peanut butter on the entire shape. For the turkey’s eye, they can use a chocolate chip or a raisin. For its wattle, they can use a red gummy. Lastly, for its tail feathers, they can even use Fruit Loops! Coordinate with the preschool so the creations can be eaten by the kids during snack-time!
Creating Handprint Turkeys
The kids will have fun with this one. First, ask the preschool for an area where the kids can work messily. Then, cover a table with newspaper and give your preschoolers old shirts or a smock to wear over their clothes. Afterwards, squirt every paint color on a paper plate. Now, it’s time to paint their hands! They can paint four fingers with any color. These fingers will serve as the turkey feathers. Then, the palm and thumb will be colored brown, serving as the body and the head of the turkey. As the preschooler stamps his or her hand on a piece of paper, this would be the turkey! With a thin paintbrush, the child can then draw the beak, legs, and waddle of the turkey—with adult help of course! These should then be left to dry. Interestingly enough, these can be used as nameplate cards, coasters, note cards, and the like.
Kids ‘R’ Kids Learning Academy of Circa/FishHawk readily works with families in creating fun activities for preschoolers. A preschool in Circa FishHawk, FL, Kids ‘R’ Kids can create these activities for you or you can sit down with them and brainstorm for some fun ideas!
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