Every festive occasion such as Thanksgiving is eagerly awaited by kids and adults alike. Children often look forward to the games and activities involved. Read this CelebrationJoy article for some ideas.
Activities for preschoolers on the occasion of Thanksgiving should be chosen and conducted in such a way that the kids enjoy a lot and at the same time, learn some things about this propitious day. The activities given below, serve both criteria.
Thanksgiving Tree!
One of the easiest activities is to make a thanksgiving tree with the kids. For this, you will need to cut out a tree trunk from a brown construction paper and stick it on a wall. Next, take a green construction paper and as the kids to trace their hands on it. Cut out the paper hands with scissors and distribute them among them. Give each kid a pencil with which they can write their name on the leaf as well as one thing they are thankful for. As they are preschoolers so give them suggestions on what to write. Once they are done, call them one by one and read out their leaf before sticking it on top of the tree trunk on the wall.
Turkey Hunt!
For this, get a stuffed toy turkey and hide it anywhere in the classroom, hall, or a house. Next, give the kids instructions that as soon as you whistle, they have to start searching for the turkey. When a kid finds the turkey toy, a small prize like a chocolate is given to him and also, now it’s up to him to hide the turkey wherever he wants to! This way, the game continues for a long time.
Corn Crafts!
To begin with, you will need to make corn-shaped cut outs of yellow construction paper. Next, give one to each child. After this, distribute tissue papers of yellow and purple color among them. Now keeping a few yourself, teach them how to tear and make small balls out of them. Next, provide the kids with glue so that they can stick the tissue paper balls on the corn cut outs. Once they have finished this task, collect all the cut outs and stick them on a large chart paper and finally put the corn collage up on the wall for everybody to see. In the end, add a few cut outs of leaves to complete the corn collage!
A Circle of Gratitude!
Thanksgiving is the perfect day to teach the kids meaning and importance of being thankful in life. So, another activity that you can plan is to have the kids sit in a circle and then one by one, tell others why they are thankful and to whom. Again, you have to guide the children by suggesting them some of the things to be thankful for such as “I thank my mom for preparing my lunch” or “I thank my teacher for helping me learn new poems” and so on.
Singing some of the famous songs that are composed exclusively for Thanksgiving is another enjoyable way to celebrate this day. So, you can get the kids together and have them recite some songs and poems after you.
Five Little Turkeys
5 little turkeys standing by door,
One waddled off, and then there were 4.
4 little turkeys under a tree,
One waddled off, and then there were 3.
3 little turkeys with nothing to do,
One waddled off, and then there were 2.
2 little turkeys in the noon day sun,
One waddled off, and then there was 1.
One little turkey better run away,
For soon will come Thanksgiving day.
Thanksgiving Things
The turkeys in the pen,
They turkeys in the pen.
All the children come and see,
The turkeys in the pen.
The pilgrims on the boat,
The pilgrims on the boat.
All the children come and see
the pilgrims on the boat.
The Indians in the field,
The Indians in the field,
All the children come and see,
The Indians in the field.
The pumpkins in the patch,
The pumpkins in the patch,
All the children come and see,
The pumpkins in the patch.
The corn on the cob,
The corn on the cob,
All the children come and see,
The corn on the cob.
The butter in the churn
The butter in the churn,
All the children come and see,
The butter in the churn.
So, plan them appropriately, keep the materials ready, take help of a few of the parents if the group is large and above all, make sure that the kids enjoy to the hilt!