Preschool Thanksgiving Ideas - Things to be Thankful For

I want to share these preschool Thanksgiving ideas because they can be adapted for all nationalities and any season.

In the United States, the holiday of Thanksgiving is in November. It is a time for families and friends to get together and share a special meal and talk about what we are thankful for.

This same concept of gratitude and things to be thankful for can be used for any time of year in any country. No need to limit this to one country's holiday event once a year.

The important idea is to get your preschoolers used to thinking about what they are grateful for and to express it.

The activity below is one a parent shared with me recently. It is one that can be used by all. The turkey is synonymous with American Thanksgiving but you can modify the idea and use any bird you wish, a flower, wreath, etc.



Thanksgiving Activity

You will need to draw an outline of a turkey
for this activity. It should be on construction paper
that you can pin to the wall when the activity is complete.

(Note: I am NOT an artist, so I usually draw a very BASIC
looking turkey consisting of a big circle for the body,
a neck, head with a beak, and two little feet at the bottom.
This is not the time to be a perfectionist about how your
bird looks, because you are going to cover it up with
feathers anyway).

You will also need to precut some "feathers" about the size
of a normal gift tag that you can write on before sticking
onto the "turkey".

Glue/tape will also be needed to stick the feathers onto
the "turkey", and pins to attach the completed picture to
the wall.

Discuss the story of Thanksgiving with your class,
ask each child for one thing that they are thankful
for and write this word on a separate "feather".

Once the children have their "Feathers of Thanks" prepared,
you can play a game of "pin the feather on the turkey" and
blindfold the children, spin them a few times, and have them
try to stick their feather on the turkey.

Any child who gets their feather on the turkey gets a "prize"
(for example, a Hershey's kiss, a piece of candy, etc.). The children can keep playing, as long as they continue to produce thoughtful,
"feathers of thanks".

VARIATION: Make fall leaves or petals of a flower. Write each word of gratitude on these and create a Gratitude or Thankful picture.


If you like these preschool thanksgiving ideas, check out the other ideas in the Preschool Planner.

http://www.preschoolplanner.com/thefullstory.html

There are Two Editions now for the Preschool Planner: Basic or Platinum.


Send me any ideas you would like to share and I will post them on my Blog.

Mary
marys.plans@gmail.com


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