Our Thanksgiving Unit Study

After my last blog done on unit studies I had a few people ask me exactly how I went about planning and carrying out the theme.  In this look at our Thanksgiving unit I will go into a little more detail about how I planned it.



First I picked a theme - hmm . . . Thanksgiving (don't ask me how I decided on that one!)  ;-)  This unit was particularly fun because I had a friend that was doing the same study so we bounced ideas off of each other.



I started with reserving books at the library on that theme.



Next I opened a new folder on my internet "my favorites" menu under "school" and called it  "Thanksgiving".



I typed in several different searches such as, "Thanksgiving crafts, Indian crafts, Thanksgiving activities, Mayflower online games, Thanksgiving songs, Thanksgiving video clips, pilgrim coloring pages, Thanksgiving snacks . . . you get the drift.



I selected activities, crafts and online work that is appropriate for the ages of my boys - and of course things I feel comfortable doing.  (I'm not real artsy so I need easy crafts that have lots of pictures showing me how to do it.)



I remain flexible with each of our school days and don't push too much at once.  If we never end up doing something I had planned that's totally OK!  My main intent on doing things with my kids is to develop a love of learning in them and if they (or myself) aren't having fun, then it's just not worth doing.



Here is how our unit went:



We read books about the Mayflower journey and the first Thanksgiving.



We watched this video clip (thanks Donna!)



We made Indian headdresses and vests

We went on a field trip to the Museum of the Great Plains with our friends

We made a map of the Mayflower and a mini Mayflower

We still plan to make turkey pine cones



And will take these yummy snacks to our Thanksgiving Day Dinner (thanks Donna!)





Hope this gives you some great last-minute ideas to do with your kiddos, or gets you on your way to doing your own unit study.



What Thanksgiving craft do you most remember making when you were a child?







Erin