Thanksgiving Fun with Children

We should use everyday to teach our children something new and useful. Thanksgiving is no different. In fact, since it is a holiday there are more ideas for learning than any regular day.

Below you will find ideas on how to encourage your children to write while learning about the Thanksgiving holiday.

Kindergarten through Second Grade

This age group of children has been learning the basics in sentence structure and how to put thoughts together in complete sentence. They know the punctuation for statements, questions, and excited thoughts.

Have your children write a few sentences, properly constructed, about different things. They could write about what they are thankful for, or they could write a sentence about a question they have about Thanksgiving, or even about how they feel about the holiday in general.

You will probably need to give them a practice sentence to follow as an example, but this task will help with their overall writing skills and help them get into the Thanksgiving spirit.

Story Starter Teller

Another idea with younger children is to allow their imagination to run wild with a story they create. Using a large tablet or easel of paper, keep your marker ready to scribble down all the interesting sentences that will be developed about the subject you have given. This works really well if you have more than one child.

Using one of the following story headlines, or one you create on your own; write down each sentence given to you by your child or group of children.

Then when the story has reached its end, read it back to them. They will be delighted to listen since it was a story created by them. Here is a list of story ideas:

1. Thanksgiving Day had finally come and turkey was taking a stroll around the barn, when all of a sudden ....

2. Mrs. Mills had just finished baking and Mr. Mills was asleep in his chair, the perfect afternoon on Thanksgiving Day. It didn't seem that it could get any better, then .....

3. There once was a place called Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful place full of wonderful people. One little girl, named Sue, was having supper at home with her whole family, just like she did every day. Then, the funniest thing happened...

Third through Fifth Grade

These children are farther along with their grammatical sentences. They understand how to properly construct a sentence. They can handle a little more complex writing instructions and will be able to translate deeper thoughts onto paper. Let this group get expressive and tap into their creative side.

1. Poetry, write different forms of poetry (haiku) about Thanksgiving and being thankful.

2. Write about your most favorite Thanksgiving. This should be in short story format, from start to end.

3. Prepare a short speech detailing all that you like about Thanksgiving.

Sixth Grade and Older

This age group is ready and able to get creative. Support their ability to use expressive and imaginative words. Their written work should be well scripted with logical order and clarity. Make sure that whatever you ask them to right expands their thoughts and their overall knowledge on the subject matter.

Here are some ideas for this age group:

1. A history of Thanksgiving

2. Other holidays around the world that resemble the American Thanksgiving

3. How Thanksgiving differs across the United States

As you can see there's no end to what you can do to make the holiday more fun, interactive, and exciting for your children.