Kindergarten Thanksgiving Activities

Thanksgiving activities for kindergartners are filled with fun.

Activities designed specifically to teach kindergartners about Thanksgiving are at your disposal as November rolls around each year. These activities give students an opportunity to express their creativity, have fun, and strengthen basic skills in a celebratory atmosphere. Some of these activities require preparation and several basic supplies, including milk cartons, glue and cranberries.

Turkey Dinner Activity

Have the children sit in a circle. Choose one student to start the game by saying, "At Thanksgiving dinner, I like to eat turkey." The next student repeats what the first student said and adds another dish to the list. Each student then takes a turn in order, reciting the list up to the student before them and then adding another item to the list. For instance, the second student might say, "At Thanksgiving dinner, I like to eat turkey and pumpkin pie," then the third student will pick up from there and add his own item after reciting the list.

Turkey Strut Activity

This activity requires you to prepare turkey footprints and to place them on the floor using masking tape. Inform the students that the object of the activity is for them to pretend to be turkeys and to strut around the room while you play music. When the music stops, each student must find a turkey footprint to stand on. When the music starts, they may continue strutting around the room. This activity may be modified to be played like musical chairs, where there is one less turkey footprint than there are children. The child who fails to get to her own set of footprints when the music stops is eliminated from the game.

Word Find Activity

This activity will keep academics in the mix and requires a timer. You may either prepare a worksheet for each student or use a blackboard and make it a group activity. Choose a Thanksgiving-related word or phrase and write it on the board, instructing the students to make as many small words as possible from the letters contained in the word or phrase before the timer runs out. For example, the phrase "pumpkin pie" will yield several smaller words, including pump, pink, mink and pine.

Cranberry Spoon Race

You will need to secure enough spoons for each student and several real cranberries for this activity. You may want to hold this activity outdoors to avoid injury. Divide the class into two or more teams and place half of each team on different sides of the play area. Give each student a spoon and place a cranberry in one student's spoon on each team. Students must then take turns and engage in a relay race, exchanging the cranberry with the next team member on the other side of the play area. If the cranberry is dropped, the team must start over.

References

• Kinder Helper: Thanksgiving Games & Activities for Kindergarten & Elementary School Kids