Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving in the Classroom
Thanksgiving became an official holiday in 1941. This was when President Roosevelt designated the fourth Thursday in November as our country’s day of gratitude. In the classroom, November is a wonderful time to play some themed games and show your students how to give thanks. In this guide, we’ve shared 5 fun and educational ways to celebrate Thanksgiving at school.
Create a Classroom Cookbook
First, ask your students to write down their favorite Thanksgiving dishes and traditions. Maybe they love mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, or candied yams. You can create a template for the students to write out the recipe for their favorite dish. Of course, they probably won’t know how to cook it, so their instructions will be hilarious and cute. Then, you can collect all of these recipes into an official classroom cookbook.
Give Thanks with the Alphabet
Gratitude is a concept that every child needs to learn. At the end of a lesson, you can wind the class down by asking students to list what they’re thankful for, from A to Z. For example, A might be “America” and “applesauce”, while F might be “friends” and “family”. For an extra fun activity, you can group students into teams and make it a buzzer-beating game. The first team with an answer wins a point.
