This collection of Thanksgiving unit study activities will make it easy for you to put together a fun and educational Thanksgiving themed unit study for November! I’ve included all kinds of ideas related to Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving traditions, and more. If unit studies are new to you, check out my post on How to Create a Unit Study.
I created the Unit Study Planner and Printables – 21 Print-and-Go Pages in order to make planning easy for homeschool moms. This is especially helpful at Thanksgiving when the days start to fill up quickly, but you want your children to learn about this important American holiday.
The download contains 21 pages of unit study printables and worksheets that can be used with virtually any learning theme (including the many unit studies you can find on my site). All of the single page unit study printables shown on this page (plus many more) are included. When paired with living books and videos, this is a very simple unit study to pull together.
This unit study planner page is included. It will make it easy for you to organize your Thanksgiving learning plans.
Thanksgiving Unit KWL
A KWL is a great way to start any unit study and document your child’s learning. KWL stands for Know, Want to know, and Learned. Your learner lets you know what she already knows about the topic, what she wants to know, and what she has learned (at the end).
If you would like a colorful Thanksgiving-themed KWL, there are three options in my shop. (Click the cover to go there.)
Thanksgiving Spelling Words
Choose the spelling words most appropriate for your child’s level.
- celebrate
- corn
- cornucopia
- deer
- feast
- hardship
- Indians
- Mayflower
- Native Americans
- ocean
- Pilgrims
- Plymouth
- Squanto
- Thanksgiving
- turkey
- voyage
- winter
Thanksgiving Word Search
You can also use the list of spelling words to create a word search!
Thanksgiving Copywork
It’s easy to continue practicing handwriting during Thanksgiving with copywork. These copywork pages combine the fun of my fun fact cards with handwriting practice. Kids absolutely love them! (Click on any cover to see details and a preview.)
Thanksgiving Handwriting and Coloring
This fun pack includes Thanksgiving themed handwriting and coloring pages in both print and cursive. It’s available in my shop to download and go.
Creative Ideas
First, write a letter from a Pilgrim to a friend back in England, telling about the journey, the first year, or the first Thanksgiving.
Second, design a postage stamp to commemorate the first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Venn Diagram
A Venn diagram is a wonderful way to compare. You can use it to compare Thanksgiving topics such as:
- Pilgrims and Indians
- First Thanskgiving and our Thanksgiving celebrations today
- Being a Pilgrim child and being a child today
- Food at the first Thanksgiving and our Thanksgiving food
Thanksgiving Mad Libs
We love using Mad Libs! They combine silly fun with learning about nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and more. This Thanksgiving theme Mad Libs is a great way to reinforce these concepts while having seasonal fun.
Thanksgiving Biography
Choose a person from the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving to learn more about. Then write a short biography about him or her.
History of the First Thanksgiving Video
This short video points out some important facts often left out or gotten wrong when we discuss the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Use this video to compare and contrast what is in this video with the stories we typically hear. You can also discuss with your learners how to find the truth about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving and why people might tell different stories.
Peanuts and the Mayflower
The Mayflower Voyagers is currently free to stream with a Prime membership. It offers another perspective of life for the Pilgrims.
Thanksgiving Fun Fact Cards
Thanksgiving Fun Fact Cards is one of the most popular products in my shop. So many fun facts your learners will discover about Thanksgiving! Click the cover to see much more about them.
Pilgrim Dress Up for Girls and Boys
Learn about life for Pilgrim girls and boys and then use costumes to do role play. If your learners especially enjoy role playing, have them write a brief play about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving to perform for family and friends.
Books about the Pilgrims
There are lots of great books about the Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, Squanto, and more. Here are some to add to your family library.
Thanksgiving Writing
November Writing Pages provides 48 Thanksgiving themed pages that will add something special to your unit study writing, notebooking, etc. If your learners love creative writing, check out the November Writing Prompts with dozens of fun topics! Click on the covers to see more details.
Thanksgiving Books
More fun Thanksgiving themed books, including the classic picture book, Cranberry Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving List It
This is a great activity to either use as an ongoing activity or a culminating activity at the end of the study. Your learners can either keep a list and add to it throughout the unit study or compile a list at the end.
Thanksgiving I Have, Who Has Game
Another fun way to review Thanksgiving vocabulary is with this popular Thanksgiving I Have, Who Has game available for instant download in my shop. (Click the cover to see more.)
Other Thanksgiving Printables
These money saving bundles and other Thanksgiving printables are also available in my shop. (Click any cover to see details.)
Categories: History & Geography• Unit Study Activities
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