Thanksgiving: Day One

I am Thankful...

Explain that Thanksgiving is a special holiday when we celebrate all the many things we are thankful for. We get together with family and friends, usually cook a big meal, and remember to give thanks.

Read some books about Thanksgiving, such as: Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland or Thanksgiving Day is Here by Diane Goode

Sing:
Thanksgiving Time (Farmer in the Dell)
Thanksgiving time is here,
Let's give a great big cheer,
For food and friends and family,
Thanksgiving time is here.

Thanksgiving

(to the tune of Are you sleeping)
Thanksgiving, thanksgiving
Time is here, time is here
Turkey’s on the table,
Turkey’s on the table,
Yum, yum, yum
Yum, yum, yum

Thankful Book
Print out this Thankful Book and assemble it. Go through it with your child, writing in his/her responses. Let child color pictures or cut out pictures from magazines to complete the ideas.

"Thank You" and "You're Welcome"
Talk with child about the importance of expressing thanks. Practice throughout the day/week with saying thank you and responding with "you're welcome."

Helping Hands do Good Deeds
Print out the body of this large turkey: one and two and display it somewhere in the house. Trace and cut out several copies of your child's handprint in fall-colored paper. Talk about doing nice things for the people we love to show how thankful we are for them. Each time throughout the week that your child does a good deed, he gets to put another hand feather on the turkey.

Cornucopia Thanksgiving Craft
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Thanksgiving Coloring Pages
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Sing
Let's be Thankful for this Day
(tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")

Let's be thankful for this day,
For our friends and our play.
Let's be thankful, let's be glad,
For our food and the things we have.
Let's give thanks for you and me,
And our home and family.

Thankful for my Family: Day Five

Family Day

Begin by discussing members of each child's family. You may even want students to draw a picture of his/her family for display on "Family Day."
Ask students to make an invitation to members of their family to come to a special "Family Day." Some suggestions include a breakfast, lunch, picnic (with games), or evening picnic.

On the day of the event, children can help make decorations and snacks for the party. When family members arrive, encourage children to introduce their family members to others.

Make this Family Handprint Craft
"My Family is special because...."

Thankful for my Family: Day Four

Let's Play Family

Sing "A Happy Family."

Read books about families.

Bring out family puppets you've made earlier in the week. Help children role play with different members, talking like them, doing the things they would do.

Have groups of small items such as rocks, sticks, pieces of string, or pasta. Tell children to play "family" with the items. Make a rock family, a stick family, etc.

Set up a Family Home living Area

Have clothes from different family member for children to dress up in.
You can add these items to your home living area. Make sure all bottles and boxes are empty and cleaned thoroughly.

plastic baby bottles, detergent bottles, dish soap bottles, hand soap bottles, cereal boxes, food boxes, aprons, hot pads, child safe utensils, potato masher, rolling pins, plastic cookie cutters, oven mittens, hand towels, wash cloths, shampoo bottles, baby soap bottles, cleaning spray bottles, dresses, clip on ties, scarves, shoes, bibs, baby spoons, etc.

Remind children that we all were once babies and came into a family. Read some books about babies, welcoming new babies into your family.

Mommy and Baby Animals

Directions:
Create a manila folder game for your children to enjoy. Glue pictures of mother animals onto the folder. Place baby animal cutouts in a baggie. Have your children take out a baby animal and match it to the mother.

Baby Care

Directions:
Put warm water in your sensory table with a little baby wash. Provide terry cloths, sponges, dolls, small empty bottles of baby shampoo, baby oil, towel, diaper and clothing. Discuss caring for babies, encouraging them to be gentle and keeping the head above water.

Baby Stuff vs. Big Stuff
Have items for babies and items for older children to be sorted. Talk about some of the things that are the same and different for babies vs. older kids.

Each member of our family is special, has different jobs, and is important. We love our families!!! Encourage children to do nice things for their family members.

Thankful for my Family: Day Three

My Family Tree

Read books on families, including those about grandparents!

Talk about how we are thankful for our families and help children say, "I love my family."

Our families have Dads, Moms, brothers, and sisters, but we also have what is called extended families with people like grandpas and grandmas and aunts and uncles and cousins. Our family extends to all the people who love us and help take care of us.

Sing "A Happy Family," including parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.

A Family Tree
Print out the parts for this family tree craft. Cut out the tree and glue it onto a piece of construction paper. Help children to label all the members of their family, including parents and siblings, but also include grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins.


Photo Books
Look through family photo albums, helping children name members of his/her family. Help children make a photo album of their own.

Greeting Cards
Make greeting cards to send to different family members. Include questions for each family member that will help children learn about their family history.

We love our families!

Thankful for my Family: Day Two

All About My Family

Sing "A Happy Family"

Read some books about families. Have children say, "I love my family."

Print out these family member puppets. Let children color them to match their own family. Turn them into puppets and have children role play.


Play "Who Uses This?"
Gather items from around the house, belonging to each member of the family. Help children to sort them into piles, labeled with the family puppets. (Dad, Mom, Kyle, etc....) Try to have examples of the same item from each person, like clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, etc.


Photo Pairs
Print out doubles of pictures of each member of the family. Play Memory, matching up the same photos.

Books:

My Daddy Book
My Mommy Book

Family Portrait

Materials:

• Large white paper plates
• Yarn
• Crayons and markers

Directions:

• Let the children create a picture of their family on the inside of the plate. Then put holes in the sides of the plate and thread the yarn through it. Now you can hang the family portraits on the wall

Thankful for my Family: Day One

I Love My Family

Show a picture of a happy family-or several pictures of different families. What is a family?

Read some books about families.

Ask children about their families. Who is in your family? (Dad, Mom, siblings) What do you love about your family? Why are you thankful for your family?

Have children color this picture of family members. Print extra siblings, etc., to match each child's family make-up. Go through each family member and role play what each person would do.



Sing "A Happy Family." You can substitute children's names or customize the songs for each family.

Family Chain
Using the picture of family members the children colored, label members for each family and cut them out. Glue onto strips of construction paper.


Talk about how families love each other, are related, help each other, live together, and are part of one big chain. Make each strip into a ring and connect the mom and dad along with siblings for each family.

Family Collage
Look through magazines to find pictures of families or family members. Glue pictures onto a paper, making a family collage.

Help children say, "I love my family."

Halloween: Day Five

Field Trip Day

Have a Halloween Party:
Invite parents.
Have kids dress up in costumes--you could have a storybook character costume idea where kids bring the book that goes along with their character OR you could have some other theme for dressing up. Put on a play or parade of costumes.
Decorate Halloween-themed cookies.
Bob for Apples.
Go "trick-or-treating."
Make homemade Root Beer (witches brew) with dry ice. (More recipe ideas.)
Tell scary stories.
Decorate Pumpkins.

Let your imagination go wild.


OR

Take kids to a Halloween Activity in the community: trunk-or-treat, carnival, etc.