The gift of a good kindergarten teacher is to make learning
exciting, engaging, and interactive.
We make learning memorable and meaningful.
Together, we make learning hands on.
We hide the learning in playing.
We make learning FUN.
I like to make
All of these types of activities require teachers to work harder, longer, and to get more creative.
Therefore, I can’t wait to share with you some of the ways to make Thanksgiving Fun in Kindergarten.
One of the initial activities are patterned headbands.
This activity allows my students to create decorate headbands for our feast,
but also to extend patterns and review flat shapes.
We cut out the pieces uses construction paper die cuts in a veggie sorting tray.
{If you don’t have these types if die cuts, here is a link to some.}
Here is the set up of the table up just like you see.
I also give my students the choice of which pattern card they choose to follow.
{Note, I did not provide them the AB pattern card.
I specifically told them they had to make a different pattern than AB.}
Be sure to encouraged them to put one dot of glue down for each pattern piece.
Once the headbands dry, I add their Native America name and laminate them.
Another FUN activity we learn through is making Native American pasta necklaces.
I take the same sorting tray but this time I added dyed pasta and yarn.
I use masking tape to tape one end of the yarn and twist it tight to make a shoelace ending.
This allows little hands to thread the yarn through the ziti pasta.
For this station, I allowed my class to create their own pattern without a prompt.
I also wanted them to work on those OT skills.
Additionally, this task takes a little bit of patience, so diligence is needed.
Some tips that help this station work include taping the other end of the string to the table
and using a sharpie to write their name.
They can easily create their pattern and not move the string incorrectly
causing them to destroy their pattern.
When they filled their string with the pasta,
I tied it up the string for them and folded over their masking tape name.
We also create Native America vests/dresses.
Take large and extra large men’s t shirts and dye them in the washing machine.
I LIKE the look you see in the bottom left corner of this picture.
I want my shirts to look “leathery but not a plain tan shirt.
So here is what I do.
I fill my washer with HOT water and add half a container of BROWN fabric dye.
{I find this dye in the laundry section of my store by the laundry detergent.}
Then, I add my shirts one by one into the water.
{You are suppose to add the shirts when they are already wet. I add the shirts when they are dry.}
Once all the shirts are in the colored water, I push them down with a plastic hanger.
{Real fancy I know, but it totally works.}
Then, I add SALT to the top of the water. Then I stir the water and let the machine run.
Can you see the look I got here?
I take craft paint and paint foam stamps.
My students help me stamp their shirts.
We talk about how the Native America people would create these colors in nature
and what the symbols would mean for them.
I fray the sleeves and bottoms of each shirt.
I cut the boys’ shirts up the middle in the front to make a vest,
but leave the girls’ together as a “dress.”
Of course I love to use literature to meet more educational needs and ideas.
Here is the FUN book, I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie.
We use this sheet and crayons to complete
a listening and following direction activity.
I love to record the directions and set the audio file on a CD so this station is independent.
It makes my students follow directions the first time and move on.
This can be tough for little ones, but also a great challenge to rise up to.
We also did some writing activities using this book.
Since I provided a word wall and sequencing cards that can support weak writers.
We also use the sequencing card
to complete this sequencing sheet.
And we loved creating 4 word sentences with these sentence scramble mats.
My students are doing amazing at looking for the capital letter,
the ending mark,
and then to create the sentence make sense.
There are six sets of sentences in this pack and
each student in my class MADE SURE they created and read each sentence.
They loved every minute of it.
We also colored them cute Color by Number sheets.
I also found this amazing CUTE Thanksgiving Little People set on Amazon.
I have never seen this in a store, but it absolutely exists online.
I love to place these pieces at a station with Thanksgiving books
and have my students use them to retell the story or act out a new story.
Of course they are not complete accurate,
as most of the Thanksgiving stories or items are…
but we also discuss that as well.
For example, we talk about things the Pilgrims actually ate for Thanksgiving,
but that it was most likely not a turkey.
These Little People pieces make excellent
THEN mental images when you need more resources than a book.
I also provide NOW people and furniture to make another mental image in my little learners minds.
We can also use items to sort and compare Thanksgiving past and present.
We also complete this FUN Now and Then Secret Code Word set.
This activity allows my students to practice number and
letter recognition and develop the idea that letters make words.
We make these NOW and THEN Thanksgiving readers as well.
We use the social studies concept of NOW and THEN,
as well as the sight words NOW and THEN.
Additionally, we practice reading the top sentence left to right.
I hope you can use some of these ideas, tips, and activities in your classroom.
And most importantly…please make
I used to do the pattern Indian hats and macaroni necklaces when I taught kindergarten years ago, and I was the only K teacher. I miss doing them; they were so fun! Now that I am at a different school with 5 K teachers, we all must do the same thing and those projects aren't what they do. Bummer!
I might cry for you!
I love all your Thanksgiving ideas, so creative! Can I get a copy of your Thanksgiving Now and Then Reader? Thanks!!
Sure!
Here is the link for that book: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Then-and-Now-Thanksgiving-Reader-968622