Free Lesson Plan for Thanksgiving – Day 1
Next week is Thanksgiving, so I designed some fun Thanksgiving printables and our own FREE lesson plan! Every day has a language assignment, math lesson, art or sensory (or both!) activity, and other homeschool ideas!
Thanksgiving is my husband's favorite holiday, but this year he's going to be in Canada working until right before Christmas! The boys are pretty upset by this, so I decided to switch up our routine a little bit. Since the weather is still nice (and hopefully stays like this!) we are spending less time on our homeschool lessons and more time outside. I also decided to switch up our curriculum a bit. We normally use Bob Jones University for handwriting, but I've designed some fun Thanksgiving handwriting printables. For reading, we use real books so we are going to put our normal books on hold and read some Thanksgiving themed books. Most of our lesson plans are themed around the book The Very First Thanksgiving. If you haven't read it yet, it's a very good book for younger children and one of our family favorites. For math, we've taking a break from Math-U-See and using some of the math worksheets I made. Since I was putting our own Thanksgiving unit study, I wanted to share it with you!
Math Lesson Plan
We have a few different math activities planned, so choose the ones that best fit your child's abilities. For little ones, a matching game or 1-10 counting worksheets work well. For Kindergarten and First Grades, we have addition and subtraction worksheets. For older kids, we have multiplication and division worksheets.
Language Arts Lesson Plan
Read the book The Very First Thanksgiving with your child. Print off the “I am Thankful for” writing prompt. For little ones, write it down as they tell you what they are thankful for. For older kids, this is a a great handwriting exercise without them realizing it.
Art Lesson Plan
Make a fun craft for your real Thanksgiving table. Cut toilet paper rolls in half. Using craft glue, attach real or silk fall leaves all around to create a pretty, seasonal napkin ring. Even with a paper napkin tucked inside it is a sweet, homemade touch for your table.
History/Geography Lesson Plan
Show your child on a map where Plymouth (present-day Cape Cod) is located compared to England, where the Mayflower originally set sail from. Trace it with your finger.
Sensory Bin Ideas
Make a fun homemade play dough that will appeal its pretty to look at, delicious to smell, and wonderful to touch. In a large bowl combine 1 cup boiling water with 1 cup of all-purpose flour, ½ cup of salt, 2 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar, 1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil, and 2-3 pouches of Apple cider mix. Stir until well combined. Allow to cool to the touch, and knead with your hands. Provide your child with fall cookie cutters, a wood craft stick makes a great “knife” a muffin tin, or Thanksgiving figures. Store in an airtight container.
I like to leave the sensory bin out all week. I may swap out just a few things to freshen it up if the kids seem to be bored with it. Different bowls, baskets, slotted spoons, pine cones, or other natural items.
Additional Resources
If You Were at the First Thanksgiving
This First Thanksgiving: Counting Book
