Thanksgiving Toys that Educate and Entertain

Thanksgiving is right in the middle of the "holiday season," yet we tend to not give it much thought. Sandwiched in between Halloween and Christmas, it marks the last day we should have our autumn decorations out, a time to stuff our faces and the beginning of the crazy retail sales. However, Thanksgiving is a lovely holiday, which, when celebrated correctly, invites us all to pause and reflect on our many blessings. Since having my four children, I have come to appreciate this day even more, teaching my kids how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can worship freely and how many blessings we truly have. But even I admit that I have little in the way of specific Thanksgiving decorations, save a few turkeys my kids have made at school over the years.

However, kids tend to learn best through creative play, not decorations, which is why it's nice to add some Thanksgiving toys to your collection to teach your children about this holiday. These toys for Thanksgiving are simple, yet fun, and you can play with your children, teaching them all about how important it is to be thankful.

Little People® Thanksgiving Celebration
The Fisher-Price Little People provide durable fun for small children to elementary school-aged ones. Many children have grown up playing with the Little People farm, school bus and more, but now they can reenact the first Thanksgiving with this adorable play set. The set comes with two pilgrims and two Native Americans, a table set with a Thanksgiving feast, a horse & cart, a pumpkin and a two-piece harvest fence. Kids will enjoy playing with this set all by itself or inviting their other Little People to partake in the feast.

Thanksgiving J-I-N-G-O
This game is just like BINGO, but with a Thanksgiving theme. The cards have Thanksgiving-themed picture squares instead of letters and numbers; kids have to answer the questions on a card, and if they have a picture answer on their playing card, they place a chip on that square. Five squares in a row wins! Not only does this game have all the fun of traditional BINGO, kids will learn facts about the Thanksgiving holiday as they play.

Happy Thanksgiving Puppets
Puppets are versatile, creative toys; kids can play with them like dolls or act out stories and put on shows. This set of six puppets includes two pilgrims, two Native Americans, the Mayflower and a turkey. You can use these plush puppets to teach your kids more about Thanksgiving, or let their imaginations run wild as they put on an after-dinner show for family and friends. This set would also be at home in a classroom; you could share the fun with your child's whole class!

Thanksgiving Costumes
If your children enjoy playing dress-up half as much as mine do, then they'll love these Thanksgiving costumes. Whether they want to Native Americans, pilgrims or even the turkey, they'll have fun pretending to be one of the first celebrants of the holiday. If you want to make the experience more educational, challenge older children to come up with a specific character for their costume, researching details about that person in history. They can then share more about themselves at dinner, teaching everyone a little more about Thanksgiving.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Remastered Deluxe Edition)
While this DVD isn't exactly a Thanksgiving "toy," our holiday wouldn't be complete without watching it at least once. This movie is a true classic; Charlie Brown gets roped into serving his friends Thanksgiving dinner, and with the help of his dog, Snoopy, makes a feast of toast, pretzels, jellybeans and popcorn-a kid's dream dinner. This deluxe edition also features a second movie, The Mayflower Voyages. In this movie, the Peanuts gang acts out the trials and triumphs of the first Thanksgiving. I really appreciate this feature because it doesn't shy away from telling kids that a lot of people got sick and died, and that life was really difficult. However, because it's told with the familiar Peanuts characters, kids aren't scared; instead, they learn more about what life was really like for the pilgrims. Watching it with our kids year after year has invoked positive discussions about the history of Thanksgiving. So depending on when you eat your Thanksgiving meal, pop some popcorn and enjoy this flick before or after the main event, sharing some fun family time together.

For more on Thanksgiving, read:
The Best Thanksgiving Books for Kids
Upcycled & Recycled Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids
Thanksgiving Breakfast Recipes