History is one of those subjects that can completely envelope your child’s interest if introduced in a dynamic way. As Thanksgiving approaches each year, I am often asked how to teach this topic in a hands-on way (hands-on is kind of our jam). My answer of course varies by age, but here are our plans for this year, including some photos and a field trip from year’s past. Spending time in picture books, working with our hands to create artistic crafts or delicious recipes of the time, and taking virtual field trips are practical ways you can bring history alive in your home. And for the Thanksgiving holiday, there’s no better time to slow down the rest of your lessons to travel back into time to learn about our native people and the Europeans who came seeking religious freedom. I encourage your family to take the time to study both groups of people who lived during this turning point in history, considering the hardships and unknown each group faced.
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY CURRICULUM
All Early American History programs will cover the time period of early colonization, but my family veers toward curriculum that is literature based. This year, we are utilizing a history program by Beautiful Feet Books, which incorporates picture books and literature with notebooking. We are presently right in the middle of our Plymouth study with BFB’s Early American History K-3, which offers just under 20 lessons studying the Pilgrims and Squanto. We read a portion of text each day, discussing key points through both oral and written narration. The curriculum provides some question prompts in the parent guide, notebook directions, and additional resources to visit for further learning, too. Overall, we have enjoyed this study (especially our Viking and Plymouth units), and it has given my nearly 8-year-old especially a deeper understanding of the events that took place leading up to the Pilgrims’ voyage to America. We will study Squanto more in depth next. This is the spine of our Thanksgiving unit study that we began in October this year.
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THE THANKSGIVING GUIDE BY BRIGHTER DAY PRESS
This will be the third year that my family utilizes the Thanksgiving Guide by Brighter Day Press. We have a lot of fun with it! It is an open and go, family style unit that would be a wonderful learning offering for elementary age children, as well as young children in preschool. Offered in both a printed book and digital download, you can cycle back to this Thanksgiving unit year after year. Your family will study history about both Pilgrims and Native Americans and create Biblical connections to The First Thanksgiving. We use this study during the week of Thanksgiving while we take a break from other homeschool plans, and it is the perfect place to begin teaching about Thanksgiving.
The Thanksgiving Guide stretches over four days, though you could certainly deep dive into topics and additional suggested readings. Optional preschool activities are included, too, if you have younger children learning alongside. The guide comes with a simple grid to see a week at a glance with lessons from Monday to Thursday, with no prep needed. Each day you will study a new topic, reading from Scripture and picture books, journal with provided prompts, and complete relevant crafts and/or a recipe. This study is easy to fit into your morning time if you homeschool, or it can be completed as a family in the early evening (even if you do not homeschool). I typically host on Thanksgiving and have found it to be just the break we need from preparations for the week’s festivities without causing interference to my time preparing my home and meals. Each year my son has enjoyed making butter, even trying different variations of herbs and flavors, as well as the beautiful Native American-inspired handcrafts (pictured below). This year I am hopeful he will share the sweet Psalm included during Thanksgiving dinner.
Note, you will need to borrow or purchase four picture books for this study: This is the Feast, Three Young Pilgrims, Squanto, and Sharing the Bread. There is also an additional reading list if you wish to expand upon either Native American or Pilgrim knowledge that you can bring to your library or use to search for videos on Youtube. I will link some of the selections my family has enjoyed here.
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ADDITIONAL ENRICHMENT
The history of Thanksgiving is so intriguing and there are so many deep dives you can take! Last year, my children enjoyed these Evan Moor guides, which taught us more in depth about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, each wonderful options for Grades K-3. The Native American History Pocket provides an introduction to Native Americans and has project-based activities for a handful of tribes across the country. The Life in Plymouth Colony History Pocket offers a hands-on study of the history of Pilgrims, their voyage and village, family life, and even their school experience! My children loved creating these projects and learning how children lived specifically during this time in history.
Note, the links I shared above are both parent guides, and you can photocopy pages from the book for your children to color and create. I suggest copying the cut-out pages on cardstock to preserve their work. You might also choose to laminate their projects when they are finished to preserve them as sweet keepsakes of their learning.
VISITING PLYMOUTH MASSACHUSETTS
If you live in New England or plan to visit in the future, The Plimouth Patuxet Museums located in Plymouth Massachusetts are incredible stops. They are located just 30 miles from Boston. There is so much rich, history to discover here, and they have wonderful online resources to explore, too. There are many areas of the museums that you can visit around the town of Plymouth, many offering living history with actors immersed in the daily tasks you would have seen done in the 1700s. Here, there is a self-guided 17th Century English Village recreated with impeccable detail. While it is a few miles from the original site, you will feel just as though you’ve traveled back in time. Children visiting are often asked to help complete tasks, such as gardening or fixing a broken bench. There is livestock, decorated homes, a church in the center of the town, and games to play, too. You can also visit the Patuxet Homesite to explore the wetu (homes) and mishoon (canoes). There will also be individuals to teach you about the surrounding crops being grown, tasks the Patuxet natives did on their day to day, and how children would have spent their time. There is also Grist Mill, Craft Center, and the Mayflower II ship to make it a full day of learning! You can see how the area honors and celebrates Thanksgiving here. The website hosts a slue of wonderful resources and photographs that you and your children can research together. Enjoy this virtual field trip where you can find recipes, riddles, and learn how to talk like a Pilgrim!
Here are some photos from our visit to the Plimouth Patuxet Museums and Mayflower II from a trip we took in August of 2022.
