Thanksgiving Unit Study Activities

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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 Learning with Themes Activity Pack – 41 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 41 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.

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 Thanksgiving copywork pages combine the fun of my fun fact cards with handwriting practice. Kids absolutely love them!

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.

Picture Books About the Pilgrims

Learn about the Pilgrims and the life they built in the New World.

Books About Squanto

Squanto was a special gift from God to the Pilgrims. Learn more about this amazing man with these books.

Books About the First Thanksgiving

The First Thanksgiving was a special event. Learn more about it!

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 cover 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.)