Preschool Fall Activity - Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt

I want to share this preschool fall activity because it is one that can be adapted for all countries at harvest time.

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.

Our holiday meal is based on the fruits of the fall harvest. Special recipes are shared among friends and families.

To teach my preschoolers about some of the foods they may have at Thanksgiving dinner, I like to show them what it looks like at harvest time before it is prepared.

We often show baskets or cornucopias filled with these vegetables and fruits. My fun way of doing this is to have a Treasure Hunt. This time the treasure is the food!

Thanksgiving Treasure Hunt

NEED:
Pictures of fall harvest vegetables and fruits. (I cut some out of magazines and laminate them or cut them out of construction paper and laminate those as well.)

Plastic foods can also be used in place of the pictures if you have them available. (Check out the Dollar stores for these.)

Empty cornucopia which I find at craft stores. You can use a harvest basket instead.

ACTIVITY:
Hide the pictures of the food or the plastic food around the room. Be sure to have doubles of everything you hide.

We start with a circle time where I show them what a cornucopia is and what foods are part of a typical fall harvest.

Send the kids on a Thanksgiving-themed treasure hunt to find all the foods they need to fill their cornucopia.

Divide the children into evenly numbered teams.
Give each team an empty cornucopia or basket.
Give each team a picture list of food items that you have hidden around the room that they must find.
The first team to find all of the items that they need to fill their cornucopia can help the other team find what they are missing.

My preschoolers never tire of treasure hunts. They are beginning to learn to work together in a spirit of cooperation.

I hope you like this preschool fall activity.

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Mary


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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


P.S. If you would like to receive my free newsletters for ideas for your preschool class, enter your name and address at the site below:

http://preschoolplanner.com/preschool-activities.html