Thanksgiving is a holiday for gratitude, family time, and good food. It's also a time to learn about the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, and the Wampanoag native Americans. The following picks cover the entire Thanksgiving gambit: from American history to modern traditions, crafts and recipes.
For little ones, holidays are an excellent excuse to get their hands dirty with some craft projects. And Enchanted Learning's selection is excellent, as always. You'll find lots of turkey crafts, some autumn leaf ideas, and a slew of printable activities for early readers. These include Thanksgiving coloring books, stories, connect the dots, counting activities, and fill-in-the blank "I am Thankful for... " exercises.
Visit Family Education's Thanksgiving pages for a friendly selection of printables (place cards, mad libs, and coloring pages), three Thanksgiving quizzes, holiday recipes, and travel tips. For Thanksgiving day craft ideas, read "10 Things to Do Besides Watching Football," which admonishes us not to be coach potatoes, but rather to " celebrate the true meaning of Thanksgiving." through family activities.
The concise Infoplease almanac has several articles on the history of Thanksgiving, and a fun one titled "Thanksgiving by the Numbers" which houses all sorts of Thanksgiving trivia. The average American eats 13.8 pounds of turkey annually, most of it at Thanksgiving. 583 million pounds of cranberries were grown in the U.S. in 2003. Other noteworthy features are "Carving the Perfect Turkey," an interactive crossword, and a Thanksgiving quiz ."What is the name of the skin that hangs off the turkey's neck?"
"Historians are history detectives. They use clues to try and figure out what happened in the past. Some historians think that the first Thanksgiving wasn't really a Thanksgiving. They call it the 1621 Harvest Celebration." Dancing Hawk and Sarah, whose ancestors where at the first Thanksgiving, guide us through an amazing learning experience as we separate Thanksgiving myth from Thanksgiving fact. This multimedia extravaganza is my pick of the day, but you'll need a high speed connection to fully appreciate it.
Scholastic's First Thanksgiving takes us on a virtual trip back to 1620, the Pilgrims' first year in America. Enhanced by Russ Kendall's oh-so realistic photos, topics include the Mayflower voyage, life in Plimoth, and the Wampanoag natives. Best clicks are the picture time line, interactive Mayflower tour, and the Thanksgiving Cyber Challenge. It is all topped off with a Research Starter for students, and a Teacher's Guide.
Buy Thanksgiving Printable for $2.00
or try a FREE trial of the Printables ClubThe following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
All Recipes: ThanksgivingThanksgiving.org | Thanksgiving Traditions |
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