Entertainment For Common men
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.
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