Wowzer, It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week!! It seems as though this year is truly flying by. It doesn’t feel like I can get ahead of all the hustle and bustle. Luckily, I found these adorable Thanksgiving themed centers from the ever talented Katie King from the Queen of the First Grade Jungle.
I knew as soon as I saw them I had to snag them up and put my Scotch laminator to work. (I thank the man upstairs for my son’s sweet girlfriend Kayla. She is my official center cutting partner.)
My kiddos have been working hard and love working with their “center companion” during our daily center time.
I knew I wanted to really teach my kiddos about the Pilgrims and the “first” Thanksgiving. When I discovered Stephanie Stewart of Falling into First adorable All about Thanksgiving packet on TPT, I was actually excited to complete my weekly plans. This packet is busting with engaging Thanksgiving Activities.
Here is a snippet of our “meet the pilgrims” craft we made. Oh so many skills are incorporated in this packet. Thank you Stephanie for helping me teach my 2nd graders all about the “first” Thanksgiving.
Well as many people know I am not much of a “holiday” person. Yes, I am known as a scrooge or even the “grinch” in my family. The holidays just don’t seem to have the same “spark” that they used to when I was little. Well, even though I may not get into the “swing” of things at home, I LOVE to make things for my kiddos to give as gifts. I saw all those “adorable turkey handprint crafts on pinterest. Ohmyword, the turkey handprints were literally taking over my boards. My favorite idea came from Pampered by Tammie. I loved her thinking
Thanksgiving = turkeys = food = cooking = POTHOLDERS!!
Winner Winner Turkey Dinner!!!!
I gathered all the necessary supplies
The project was pretty simple to complete. My 2nd graders were able to complete this with very little assistance. I do not have a sink in my classroom but I filled a few disposable pans with water and laid paper towels nearby. My kiddos submerged their “painted” hand into the water and "rinsed off prior to heading out to wash their hands. This was the smartest thing I have done. Note to self…purchase a couple plastic dishpans for future craft projects. Once the turkeys were dry, I let the kids add the finishing touches. (An eye, legs, and a waddle)
We talked about being thankful. We decided this was a “perfect” gift to give to the person making Thanksgiving dinner. My kiddos will all be taking one of their adorable personalized Turkey Potholders home to give to the person “slaving” over their dinner on Thanksgiving. I think all those cooks will be super excited to receive these turkey lurkies.
My momma always told me it’s all about presentation. Yes, I was the girl who woke up every Christmas morning to beautifully wrapped packages. You know the kind that are actually too pretty to unwrap. Thanks Mom for always taking a little “extra” time to make everything in my childhood a little more beautiful. Well, how does one wrap a potholder to make it as precious as the gift inside? Well, in this day and age, you head on over to pinterest for some inspiration. I was lucky one evening, okay I admit it one early morning when I had insomnia to run across Save the Turkeys by Jessica Todd. The best part about this adorable writing craftivity… It was FREE!!! Well, I didn’t need a writing project but I loved the adorable turkey craft. I swapped the writing paper for a XL brown paper bag and BINGO!!!! We have our “gift bags”.
All lined up and ready to go
Even though we still have a few more days of school until our Thanksgiving break arrives, I knew I wanted to do our “thanksgiving” celebration a few days earlier. I opted to have a “Charlie Brown” themed party for the kids. My parents were amazing. They sent in tons of goodies. Yes, we had it all popcorn, pretzel sticks, buttered toast, strawberry parfaits with whipped cream and maraschino cherries, and jellybeans (well the jellybeans were for display only!!) I added cute “charlie brown” accents to my water bottles. (This was simple to create. I made a zigzag pattern onto white paper and then copied it onto yellow construction paper. I cut them into stripes and attached them with tape.) We watched the movie “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” during our feast! I even got a kick out of a few who said, “Look Mrs. Freshwater they copied us!” Oh My.. I was shocked they had never seen this “classic”. I was very thankful to share this special time with each of my second graders.
One of my “sweet” parents brought in their Smiley face toaster for us to use. The kids “loved” it!!! This was a little glimpse at our plates. Yummy!!!
I’ll leave you with one of my Favorite quotes from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown. –Marcie
Always, Melissa
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❤Melissa