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Thanksgiving

Dear Subscribers:

If you have limited time to read through the entire blog, here are a few play-based activities focusing on activities to enjoy together as you support your child to express gratitude as Thanksgiving rapidly approaches. This is a perfect time of year for children to have opportunities at home and in the classroom to reflect on the positive aspects of their lives, their families, and to express their thankfulness. Why is it important to say “Thank-You”? The gift of gratitude goes two ways! People who are thanked are more likely to behave positively towards the person who thanked them and also to pay it forward to others in the future. 

Children often identify with stories filled with characters expressing different emotions. Reading provides an opportunity for children to reflect on these emotions to gain a better understanding of their own feelings. Literature can offer opportunities to discuss attributes such as kindness, gratitude, compassion, and empathy. The following are SEL focussed questions to ask children before, during and after reading a book.  

You can locate these books at your school or public library or click on the link below and share the stories.

1.  Read and Sing together 📚 

  • Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks! by Margaret Sutherland (2:30 mins.) is about how being thankful is a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving and to be thankful for family, friends and the holiday that brings them all together. 
  • The Thankful Book by Todd Parr (2:54 mins) celebrates all the little things children can give thanks for including everyday activities like reading and bathtime to big family meals together and special alone time between parent and child. Readers are inspired to remember all of life’s special moments. This is a perfect book to share around the holidays. 

Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt. (8:21 mins.) This is a touching story about families who do not have a plentiful supply of food. When Sofia discovers that Maddi’s fridge is quite empty, she wants to help her friend but soon recognizes that she needs some adult help. This book is perfect for introducing the topics of secrets, hunger and the importance of helping those who are less fortunate.. 

Thanku;Poems of Gratitude by Miranda Paul. We often give thanks for the things in our lives that we are grateful for. In this book you will read about many of the things for which the Metis Elders are grateful. Here is one of the poems – Shoes – which is read aloud by Lupe Ruiz-Flores. (2:56 mins.)

Peppa Pig and the Day of Giving Thanks by Candlewick Press. (4:20 mins.) Peppa Pig and her brother, George, are out for a nature walk with Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. and observe the many things to be thankful for—the blue sky above, the trees full of apples, the pumpkins, the fallen leaves that are so fun to play in. When a rainstorm arrives will it leave a surprise that Peppa might be grateful for after all? 

Leading up to Thanksgiving, sing together and enjoy these catchy tunes to express thankfulness and gratitude.

2. Create together: Puzzles, Crafts, Drawing and Constructing 🧩 

  • Create a gratitude jar for the family to express gratitude year round. Children can creatively decorate a mason jar using  stickers and/or ribbons, strips of paper; slips of paper and writing utensils. At Thanksgiving, empty the jar and read what everyone has written. 
  • Create a Gratitude Time Capsule at home using a mason jar with a tight lid, strips of paper; and writing utensils. While you cook on Thanksgiving, ask children to write  all of the things they are grateful for — help them brainstorm if they are struggling to come up with ideas. Place the rolled up pieces of paper into the jar. Secure the lid tightly and together find a spot in your yard and bury the jar. Dig up the jar next Thanksgiving, and go through it together.

3. Explore together 🌍

4. Engage and Interact: 👭

Cooking is a great activity to enjoy with children as they count, measure and prepare something to share with others.

  • As Thanksgiving approaches, make pumpkin spice playdough together or a turkey handprint poem to give to a relative or friend.
  • Click and read The Apple Book by Dawn Casey. A child says thank you for the gifts nature provides, from hazelnuts in the hedge to apples from the tree, eggs from the hens to milk from the cow. Eventually, the family has enough ingredients to make something special…a delicious apple cake! Enjoy the recipe at the end of the book and cook an apple cake together for Thanksgiving. 
  • Thanksgiving weekend family activity? Look over these 10 movies to watch to inspire Gratitude

5. Reflect: Thoughts of the Day about Outdoor Play and Learning 💭