Classroom Thanksgiving Games
If you're planning a Thanksgiving party in the classroom, there are a myriad of
games you can have the children play that will be fun but also educational and
useful in teaching the concept of being thankful.
Be careful not to overdo the turkey aspect of Thanksgiving. Some children forget
that it's about more than the turkey. Playing some fun games can help them
remember the purpose of Thanksgiving.
Try a gratitude bag. Fill the bag with several cards, each with something on it.
Some will say "Thanksgiving" while others will have a word or picture of other
things. Some of those other things might be cars, food, clothes, etc. Have the
children sit in a circle and draw a card out of the bag. If they get a card that
has a picture or word on it other than "Thanksgiving" they should talk about why
they are thankful for that item and why others should be as well.
For example, if the child choose "shoes", they might express how thankful they
are that they have shoes so their feet stay clean and they don't get cold in the
winter and they stay unharmed when they are walking. Depending on the ages of
the children, this might be a simple response or something a little more
involved once they understand the concept better. If they draw the "car" card,
they might comment on how nice it is to have a car and not have to take the bus,
or how nice it is that their mom can pick them up from school so they don't have
to walk home everyday. With help from the teacher or a parent, they might even
note that in many parts of the world, people don't have cars (or shoes) and that
they are lucky to have all these things.
If the child chooses a card that says "Thanksgiving" they should come up with an
original idea about something they are thankful for. Try to steer them away from
things like "Playstation" but instead steer them toward things like "my parents"
and "my house and my room".
For some thinking fun, have kids do a word find with Thanksgiving words. Provide
them with a list of words related to Thanksgiving. They might be "Thanksgiving",
"Cornucopia", "Mayflower", "Turkey", etc. Then they must find words contained in
those words. So, if the word is "Mayflower", they might find words like "lay",
"flower", "flow" and the like. "Thanksgiving" might turn into "thank", "sing",
and "an".See which child can find the most words in the list of words you
provide them. Try to challenge the kids to find words within the words that
relate back to Thanksgiving.
The old memory game is always fun and can be used for Thanksgiving too. Have the
children sit in a circle and have someone start the game by saying, "At
Thanksgiving, I like to eat" and then finish it with one food item. So that
child might say, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey", and the next child
will say, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey and cranberry sauce." The next
child would continue with, "At Thanksgiving, I like to eat turkey and cranberry
sauce and green beans." Each child will carry on until the list becomes so long,
someone is sure to forget an item. You can either star the game over or keep
going until everyone is out but one child.