Thanksgiving Activities for Kids

How Do You Explain Thanksgiving to a Child?

It can be tricky explaining Thanksgiving to children, who sometimes don’t understand there is anything more behind the holiday than lots of nice food! Explain to them that Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for families to come together and enjoy good company and good cheer, and it’s a time to show gratitude for everything we have.

Thanksgiving is about the fall harvest that first brought together the Native Americans and the pilgrims. You could get your children involved in preparing the food as an opportunity to learn about where food comes from and how lucky we are to have it, and maybe talk about how important it is to help others in need – just like the Native Americans helped the first pilgrims.

You may want to explain that although the first Thanksgiving was a positive interaction between founding people and colonisers, Thanksgiving also symbolises a history of mourning for many Native Americans. After helping the European settlers, many events happened later that resulted in Native Americans losing their land and lives.

However you choose to commemorate or celebrate Thanksgiving, you can explain to the children that we always have more to gain in fellowship than we do in conflict.

5 Interesting Thanksgiving Facts for Kids

• The current US president pardons a turkey every year. The tradition first began when Abraham Lincoln was president and his son wanted to let the turkey live. President George HW Bush was the first to formalise the tradition in 1989, and since then the pardoned birds have even visited Disneyland to take part in the annual Thanksgiving parades!
• There is an official Thanksgiving postage stamp.
• Jingle Bells was originally composed as a Thanksgiving Day song in 1857 called “One Horse Open Sleigh”. It was so popular around Christmas that the title was changed to “Jingle Bells” two years later.
• The average person eats 4,500 calories at their Thanksgiving dinner – that’s the same as 16 slices of pizza, 61 chicken wings or a whopping 28 donuts!
• The famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is watched by millions of Americans every year, but did you know that the first ever parade in 1924 featured many animals borrowed from New York’s Central Park Zoo, including camels, elephants, bears and monkeys?

The Story of the First Thanksgiving

The story of the first Thanksgiving begins back in Plymouth, England in September 1620. 102 passengers - Pilgrims - set off sailing across the ocean on a ship called the Mayflower to start a new life. After a gruelling journey that took 66 days they reached their new home in New England.

When the Pilgrims landed in Cape Cod in November they weren't ready for the harsh, wintry conditions and, tragically, half the original passengers had died by spring. The remaining passengers settled into a village they called Plymouth. Various indigenous tribes of the Wampanoag people already lived there.

The Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land and shared essential survival knowledge with them. Without their kindness the Pilgrims would not have survived another winter. With their help the Pilgrims welcomed a successful harvest which they celebrated with the first Thanksgiving.

In November 1621, Governor William Bradford organised a three-day celebration and invited the indigenous people who had helped them, including Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief. The same concepts of friendship and gratitude are still celebrated on Thanksgiving today.

Canadian Thanksgiving

Our Canadian visitors might prefer to explore our Canadian Thanksgiving collection.

Canadian Thanksgiving

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. "
E.P. Powell