Thanksgiving Theme Days

I had a somewhat sudden inspiration to school the first 2 days of our official week long Thanksgiving break and instead bank those 2 vacation days to use elsewhere.  Since Phil had 2, 12 hour days, I thought it might be fun to do a big Thanksgiving Themed unit.  

I worked throughout the week putting together ideas and making lesson plans and copies.  We did a super duper deep clean upstairs and just a thorough clean downstairs (ran out of time) over the weekend and I set up the little homeschool room to accommodate an extra 5 kids (plus Lucas who had his own kiddie table and play space in the next room) and we invited our friends the Mulkeys to join us.  

It was just what I had hoped...very organized and structured (LOL, yes, this is the first thing I listed), lots of learning, fun, laughter, running, playing, jam packed with activities, sharing, and of course snacking.  (And only 7 out of the 11 kids cried the first day.....though to be fair there was an incident where the baby got hurt and the girls all felt terrible and cried together).

Squeezing in to the school room, bins to keep all the projects organized.

Our main project was a "Flip Book", the middle group had a template and the older ones made their own.  We organized and wrote out information about the Mayflower, Pilgrims, Native Americans, vocabulary, and the First Thanksgiving.  We spent quite a bit of time on this project, spreading it out through the 2 days in small chunks.  We read information and watched some videos that took us on a tour of a Mayflower replica, a Pilgrim Village, and a Wampanoag Village.  The finished products were great!  

We also did 2 art projects, read poetry and other read alouds, had an apple taste test activity, did a word scramble, the older group wrote poetry, played Thanksgiving Bingo, and had an outside game as well.  (And of course snack and recess).  Even though our school day was 9-3 the first day and 9-4 the second, I had enough materials left over to do a 3rd day (that I will save for next time).

Running around outside on a "turkey hunt".  I had little laminated turkey graphics that I hid around the yard to find and cross off the coordinated number on their papers.

We dug out our little kid toys from storage for Lucas (age 3), they were enjoyed by others as well.

I made a traditional Pilgrim meal for lunch the first day.  It was a stew with "venison" (beef), barley, beans, split peas, squash, carrots, and onions.  Michelle brought cornbread.  I wouldn't say it was a popular meal LOL but hopefully the kids got a "taste" of what was available in that era.

 At the end, the children got to share something they made, what their favorite activity was, and something that they learned.

I forgot to take a picture of everyone piled in with blankets and covers watching the movie, Squanto, A Warrior's Tale, and eating popcorn.  I put down a ton of towels and sheets and there was still popcorn everywhere LOL.