Thanksgiving Activities for Elementary School Students
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There are plenty of fun activities that can be prepared for a Thanksgiving Day celebration at school. Ask the students to come to school dressed up according to a Pilgrim-Indian theme or just as something creative and silly.
Thanksgiving Feast
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To prepare for this activity, let the class brainstorm a list of appropriate foods for the feast. Then let the students choose which of those foods they would like to bring from home or help to make at school (if this is possible). On the day of the feast, let the students create place cards for themselves and then set the table. Once everyone is seated, each student can talk a little about the food he brought.
Pine Cone Turkeys
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A week or two before the celebration day, take the students on a nature walk and have them collect pine cones. On the day of the event, give each student a pine cone, colored feathers and modeling clay. The students stick the feathers into one end of the pine cone, spreading them out like a turkey's feathers, and stick the clay into the other end to create eyes and a beak.
Alternatively, if you can't find any pine cones nearby, make a latex glove turkey instead. Each student gets one glove, blows it up like a balloon, and then decorates it with a marker. Younger students will need help with blowing up and tying the glove closed.
Cornucopia
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You can vary this activity depending on the age of the students. For older students, use strips of colored paper for paper weaving and create a "cornucopia" basket. It's okay if the shape is just a square or rectangle (easier for weaving), as long as you explain the concept of the cornucopia to the students beforehand. Younger students can simply color and cut out two cornucopia shapes that you can help them to staple together around the edges, creating a pocket inside. To fill the cornucopia, students can look through magazines and cut out pictures of food or draw and cut out their own pictures.
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