~ Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for Thanksgiving ~
Books
Rhymes
Native American Thanksgiving Rhyme
(If you are in a non-religious school, you can eliminate the first and last lines.)
Thank you, God the Father (Fold hands in prayer)
Thank you, for the sunshine (Stretch arms overhead in circle)
Thank you, for the rain (Move fingers down)
Thank you, for things that grow (Move hands up)
Thank you, for good food to eat (Make circle around tummy)
Thank you, for families that love us. (Cross arms over chest)
Thank you, God the Father. (Same as first)
Songs
Raffi
PowerPoint
Raffi
Song Book
- Turkey Trot, by Ron Brown: MP3 Download
- Turkey in the Straw, by Phil Rosenthal: MP3 Download
- Over the River and Through the Woods, by Lydia Maria Child: MP3 Download
- Thanksgiving Songs at Preschool Education
- Thanks A Lot: iTunes download
Activities
Cherry Pie Play Dough Mats
[Fine Motor]
Print out the Cherry Pie play dough mat and cover with contact paper or laminate. Have children make small round balls (for the cherries) with red
play dough, and place the cherries on the circles of the play dough mat.
Thanksgiving Meal
[Fine Motor]
Have children cut out pictures of their favorite foods and glue them on a paper plate. Grocery store sale papers from the newspaper can be used for pictures
(or print out clipart).
Coffee Filter Turkeys
[Art]
Cut a coffee filter in half and have children paint it with watercolors. Cut out a turkey's body from brown paper (a sort of gourd shape) and let the children
glue it on. Have them draw eyes and a beak.
Pie Pan Art
[Art]
Cut paper circles the same size to fit in a disposable pie pan. Place marbles in tempera paint. Have the children place the marbles in the pie pan (one at a time)
and roll it around to paint the paper.
Dinner Napkins
[Art]
Cut fabric into squares of about 12x12 inches using pinking shears. You can buy inexpensive fabric from the clearance area or ask parents to donate scraps.
Have the children paint foam craft stamps with fabric paint and stamp it on the fabric. They can also paint designs directly onto the fabric. These can
be used in a classroom Thanksgiving celebration or at home for Thanksgiving dinner.
Giving Thanks Class Book
[Literacy]
Ask children to think of things they are thankful for, and illustrate it on a sheet of paper. Each child's page would read: "_____ is thankful for _____."
Example: "Nash is thankful for friends." To make our class books, I use "presentation book covers" from an office supply store or Walmart. It has a sturdy
plastic cover with a clear insert, and the pages are also clear inserts. I just slip in a page for the front cover, and slip in the children's pages inside.
These can be reused.
Pie Pan Writing
[Literacy]
Place orange tempera paint or fingerpaint in a disposable pie pan. Use enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Have the children use their finger
to practice writing letters in the paint. You can also use pudding instead of paint (color vanilla pudding orange to look like pumpkin pie).
Turkey Letter/Sound Match
[Literacy]
Children identify the beginning sound on each picture card and match it to a letter card. For Pre-K, I recommend only placing about 5-10 cards with matching
cards in a center at a time. Or, place a few in a ziplock bag for each child. This game can also be played with two sets of picture cards to match or two
sets of letter cards to match. Also included are blank cards that you can program any way you want: with lowercase letters, numerals, shapes, etc.
Story Retelling
[Literacy]
Choose a Thanksgiving-themed book that you would consider good literature (good characters, plot, beginning, middle, end, etc.) Show the book to the children
and tell them to think about what happened in the story, and the people (characters) and places they saw in the story. Think about what each character
said. Give each child a piece of paper and ask them to draw something they remember from the story. Remind them that this should not be a picture of their
cat or their friends, but only pictures of things from the book. After each child has illustrated the story, have them retell the story in their own words.
Either record each child with a voice recorder or write their dictation on the page.
Turkey Stamping Game
[Literacy, Math]
Write a letter or numeral on each turkey, and make a copy for each child. Children will draw a number or letter card from a stack (or roll a die),
find that letter/numeral on their mat, and stamp it out. You can use rubber stamps or bingo daubers. As an alternative, you can have children draw an
"X" over the turkey if stamps or bingo daubers are not available.
Number Flip Book
[Math]
To make a flip book, fold a piece of paper over hotdog style, cut four flaps (cut four slits into one side of the paper), and write numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 on
the flaps. Children put the correct number of Thanksgiving stickers under each flap.
Food Counting
[Math]
Use the play food from your House Center. Write numbers on disposable plates. Have the children identify the numeral and count out that amount of foods
to place on the plate.
Turkey Grid Games
[Math]
To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral and count out that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one
picture in the grid. Children play until the whole grid is full. Bingo chips or flat floral marbles can be used for the game pieces.
(10 Spaces)
(20 Spaces)
Turkey Counting
[Math]
For this activity, you will need bowls of red, yellow, orange, green, and brown Unifix cubes. Children will choose a mat and place one Unifix cube on each colored turkey
(the Unifix cubes should be the same color as the turkey they place it on). Children will then sort the Unifix cubes by color and count how many cubes they
have of each color. Optional: have the children hook each color of cubes together in towers and compare to see which has the most cubes. If Unifix cubes are
unavailable, you can use lima beans spray-painted in the colors needed.
Pumpkin Pie
[Cooking]
Fill mini pie crusts with canned pumpkin pie filling. Bake for 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes.
-- from Mailbox magazine
Turkey Roll Up
[Cooking]
Ingredients:
Spreadable cheese (Cheese Whiz, Velveeta, or spreadable cream cheese)
Flat bread
Deli turkey slices
Spread the cheese on a small piece of flat bread, place a slice of deli turkey on top, and roll it up. Popsicle sticks can be used for spreaders.
House Center
[Centers]
In the House Center, add a Thanksgiving tablecloth, Thanksgiving placemats, and a vase of autumn flowers.
Sensory Table: Pie Crust Dough
[Centers]
At Large Group time, mix different consistencies of flour and water mixtures (similar to pie crust dough). Make 3-4 bowls using varying amounts of flour and water.
Place the bowls in the sensory table, and allow children to explore and feel the difference of the consistencies.
Play Dough Thanksgiving Dinner
[Centers]
Place plates, bowls, pie pans, cookie sheets, and similar items in the play dough area for children to pretend to make a Thanksgiving dinner using play
dough to make their pretend foods.
Resources
(10 Spaces)
(20 Spaces)
Links
- Thanksgiving Theme Links
- Thanksgiving Matching Cards from Montessori for Everyone
- Thanksgiving @ Pre-K Pages
- Thanksgiving @ The Virtual Vine
- Thanksgiving @ Teaching Heart
- Thanksgiving @ Little Giraffes
- Thanksgiving @ Enchanted Learning
