A House Full of Cousins Makes for a Magical Thanksgiving
Living across the country from family can be pretty hard, especially around the holidays. I don’t even know the last time we were able to be home in Washington for Thanksgiving. That’s life. Yet when my brother and his wife moved east over the summer, we were excited to be within driving distance (albeit a long drive) to family. Mike, Ashley, and the kids drove down to visit us for Thanksgiving and it was awesome. Thanksgiving 2011 was the best yet. Holidays with friends and neighbors are great, but nothing beats a house full of cousins!
The kids all played together from sunup to sundown. It was like they’d never been apart. They ran through the house and played until they dropped at the park next to our house. The boys loved being chased by Uncle Mike! My brother is so great with kids. They absolutely adore him.
Cousin Emily, 16 months
Bella plays at the park
Cousin Anthony, Age 3
Derek loves his Uncle Mike
Bella and Uncle Mike
I'm Thankful for My Amazing Hubby
Dinner was fantastic, and so much easier with my helpful sis-in-law to help! We put together a full spread in no time. Our main masterpiece was a tur-duck-hen. Yes, they actually exist. My hubby found it at the commissary. I was very uncertain about trying something so… so.. different.. but it was actually really good!
Bella, Ashley, and Emily
The Girls 
Thanksgiving Dinner
The cousins had such a blast visiting. After a late lunch and lots of play, everyone was ready for naps. Everyone that is except the little girls! The adults visited and watched tv, then the ladies went on a nice brisk walk through the base to burn off some turkey.
Our visit was way too short, but it was a ton of fun. I can’t wait to get the cousins together to visit again soon. These are the memories I hope they cherish always.
The boys hang out at the little table
Derek, Age 3
My girls
Handsome Indian Braves, a Real Indian Encampment, and Funky Tee-Pee Cookies– Celebrating Native Americans!
Without the kindness of the Native Americans, our Pilgrim ancestors didn’t stand a chance. Without the food and supplies necessary to survive a brutal New England winter, they were doomed to a dark and painful end. Had the Native Americans not given them a helping hand, we wouldn’t have Thanksgiving and America would probably be a much different country. It only seems fitting that we dedicate some time each Thanksgiving to remembering America’s first people, learning about their culture and history, and paying our respects to a great civilization.
This year was the first time I’ve introduced the boys to Native Americans. We started with fun finger-plays and stories and progressed to making Indian Brave hats. We talked about different roles people played in an Indian village and what their lives may have been like had they been born back then as little Indian boys. Alex knows a bit about Native Americans, so this year we went more in-depth. We researched and discussed specific tribes, went in-depth about the role Indians played in the first Thanksgiving, and read lots of books. We watched Pocahontas, made tee-pee cookies, and ended our week by attending a Native American Festival in Silver Springs, Florida. Our study of Native Americans started out as an abstract concept and ended with real, flesh-and-blood, costumed Indians demonstrating their way of life, crafts, games, and more.
Hats Fit For An Indian Brave
History is a pretty foreign concept for young children. For the most part, they’re only concerned about themselves and their present well-being. How does one introduce the concept of American Indians who lived long, long ago?
I introduced some adorable fingerplays about American Indians this week as well as some simple stories. We talked about the Native Americans’ role in Thanksgiving and by the end of the week I asked each boy to explain to me who the Indians were and why they are important to us. Derek exclaimed, “They liked to shoot things with arrows and shared their food. I like to shoot things too. I am a good Indian. I can shoot!”
For Ethan, the concept was a bit harder. He’s awesome at memory work, but thinking creatively and explaining things don’t come easy for him. It took a lot of prodding to get him going. Eventually, he came up with some pretty thought-provoking answers. Ethan said, “The Indians used to live here, but not anymore. They were really good at planting food and hunting and taught the Pilgrims how to do this. That’s why there’s Thanksgiving.”
As part of our Native American study, we planned a mini-Thanksgiving feast, where we would read the Thanksgiving story aloud and where the boys would dress up as Indians and the girls would be Pilgrims. We baked a traditional Colonial Thanksgiving favorite, Indian Pudding (For recipe, check out: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/fruity-indian-pudding-1027303/) to serve with dinner too. It was a lot of work to make it from scratch, but it was very good!
The boys enjoyed making Indian Brave Hats to wear at dinner. They were so cute. Our mini-Thanksgiving went off without a hitch and was full of interesting discussions about Thanksgiving, Pilgrims, and Native Americans. Fortunately Daddy was around to tell the story and answer the hordes of questions. It was great fun!
Indian Brave Derek
Indian Decorates His Hat
Two Handsome Indian Braves
Alex’s Funky Tee-Pee Cookies
Once the boys and Bella went down for their afternoon naps, Alex and I got out the baking supplies and put on our creative-genius hats. If you know me at all, you know I’m not a huge fan of baking. It’s time consuming, messy, and calorie heavy. However, Alex loves it. I resisted the urge to run screaming and let her choose a creative and time-intensive recipe. Her choice? Tee-Pee Treats. For the recipe, check out: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/tepee-treats-689030/.
Alex’s Funky Tee-Pee Cookies proved to be the messiest project we’ve ever attempted. We had fun, though, and created mounds of messy dishes. We made the frosting from scratch and then smoothed it over waffle cones. If you do this project, don’t get waffle cones. They’re irregularly shaped and won’t stand up unless you carefully tear away the edges until they’re even. The frosting dripped down our arms and coated the table. We froze them for a few minutes to harden before decorating and were in for a surprise. They started melting again while we decorated!
We ended up keeping the plate of frozen, frosting-covered cones in the freezer, bringing one out at a time to decorate, then returning them to the freezer. Now we have 8 tee-pees sitting in our freezer. Bella tried eating one but thought it was nasty when it started melting again. Derek ate half of one and said, “Eeew! Too sticky!” Hmmm… this project was cute but we probably won’t do it again. We did make a cute village though!
Alex Spreads Icing on the Ice Cream Cones
One Lone Tee-Pee, All Covered in Icing
The Icing Was Dripping Down Our Arms and All Over the Table... Ick!
Our Indian Village Before Decorations
Alex Decorates Her Tee-Pee Cookies
Et Voila! Our Tee-Pee Village
Silver Springs Indian Festival 2011
To end our week-long study on Native Americans, we drove 2 hours SW to Silver Springs, Florida. There was an Indian Encampment/ Festival there this weekend and we’ve been meaning to check Silver Springs out for quite some time. I printed us a buy 1/ get 1 free coupon online to save on the steep price-tag and we loaded up into the truck for a little adventure in the Ocala National Forest.
We encountered our first Indians this morning at our hotel. The breakfast table next to ours was full of costumed Indians. No matter how many times I told the kids not to stare, they couldn’t stop. Their eyes were like giant saucers! Native-Americans were no longer story-book characters, but real people sitting next to them! That’s pretty deep stuff to comprehend if you’re little. Next, we headed across the street to Silver Springs and met some more Indians up close and personal.
We watched some Native American dances and learned all about Indians of various tribes, their lifestyles, and their livelihoods. The Mohawk demonstrator taught us all about village life and traditional games. Alex was an eager volunteer and got actively involved. I was so proud of her! We checked out lots of Native American art and a real tee-pee too. Although the encampment was pretty small, we learned about Indian tribes all across the United States. It was a very interesting way to spend a day!
A Mohawk Indian
Alex Participates in a Mohawk Hoop Game
The Log Game Was Fun Too
I was so proud of her for volunteering!
The Kids Check Out a Real Tee-Pee
I hope the kids learned a thing or two about American Indians this week and have gained an appreciation about the importance of Native Americans throughout our history. I hope they continue to be interested in Native Americans and thirst to learn more, just as I did as a child. I probably had just as much of a blast this week as they did. One can never have too much fun learning!
Festive Thankful Leaves Wreaths to Warm Any Thanksgiving Hearth
Without cute kid art, any holiday hearth is pitifully empty. Utterly lonely. Completely barren. Okay, maybe not barren, but you get the point. We sadly don’t have a hearth in this house, but our kitchen counter-ledge serves as a second-choice. Friday’s school day was all about Thanksgiving and we began our lessons with Thankful Leaves Wreaths. A home seems so much homier when it’s full of carefully crafted kid projects, and I want ours all ready by Thanksgiving to show off to the family. Not only is this project super easy, but it also is fantastic coloring, cutting, and gluing practice. That’s always great for small hands.
Here’s what you need to make your own adorable wreaths this holiday season:
Printer paper or construction paper (print your leaves on white paper and color them, print them on construction paper, or trace leaf shapes on construction paper)
Leaf Templates (I printed ours from www.enchantedlearning.com)
Scissors
Crayons or Markers
To create your fabulous wreath, here’s what you do:
1. Draw a half-circle on the top- center of your paper plate and cut it out. The bottom half is where you’ll write what you’re thankful for and the sides are where you’ll glue your leaves.
2. Color and cut out lots of leaves. Each of my kids colored and cut eight leaves. That was barely enough to cover the sides of the wreath, but it really depends on the size of your paper leaves. Coloring and cutting are both excellent ways to practice fine-motor skills!
3. Glue leaves along the outer-rim of the paper plate.
4. On the lower center area of the paper plate, write “(Child’s name) is thankful for…” and have your child come up with something creative. The boys came up with great ideas quickly and loved it. Alex complained about having to think of another thing to be thankful for since it’s not our first thankful-project. I told her to pick one from our Thankful Tree project that was really meaningful.
Derek had fun decorating his wreath with glitter glue once the leaf-gluing was done and all three outlined their names with glitter-glue. They were occupied for nearly an hour with this project. Happy mom time! Our gleeful little wreaths are hanging in a row on the counter’s edge, celebrating creativity and the spirit of Thanksgiving. I hope our study in thankfulness sticks in their little brains for a while!
Related articles
- Our Thankful Tree: Teaching Kids To Be Thankful for What They Have (homeschoolinghelicoptermama.wordpress.com)
- Thankful Tree Progress Update… Celebrating the Little Things in Life (homeschoolinghelicoptermama.wordpress.com)
Thankful Tree Progress Update… Celebrating the Little Things in Life
We’re on day 17 with our Thankful Tree, and the kids are learning more and more about being thankful for what they have each day. The whole concept was foreign and alien to Ethan at first, but now he’s ready to fill his leaf with new and interesting things each day. Alex loves the project. Derek comes up with the same answers each day, but we’re working on it and he’s learning. There’s so much to be thankful for!
We haven’t made Thankful Leaves every single day, but do have quite a few blooming on our tree. We’ve also had some great conversations about why we should be thankful for what we have, giving to those who have less than we do, and recognizing our blessings. Too often we take advantage of our stuff and don’t think twice about being grateful.
The kids are figuring out that they’re pretty lucky to have toys to play with, clean clothes, a family that loves them, and good food to eat. They’re lucky to have friends and siblings to play with and a city full of great places to visit. They’re starting to thank God for these things during their prayers. This is huge, especially for Ethan. He had such a hard time figuring out what it meant to be thankful at first. This project is helping him a lot. Celebrating the little things in life does a lot of good for all of us.
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
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- Project: Thankful Tree (craftzine.com)
- Thanksgiving Tree (joyceandnorm.wordpress.com)
- Thankful Thursdays: Celebrating the Little Things (thelookbookphilosophy.wordpress.com)
Hand-print Turkeys to Brighten Your Day! :-)
What pre-school curriculum would be complete without hand print turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving? Paint and three-year-olds are always an interesting combination. If you don’t mind paint-covered preschoolers (and tables, clothes, floors, skin, and wherever else it happens to land), this is an awesome keepsake project you should do too.
First, choose some colorful, washable paints to apply to your child’s hands. We painted the palm and thumb brown for the body and head, then painted the other fingers bright colors for the turkey’s colorful feathers.
Next, carefully press your child’s hand to the construction paper. Apply a little pressure to each finger to make sure each feather comes out nicely. Derek needed a little help with this step.
If you’d like more than one turkey, repeat the above steps. Next, add a beak, a gobble, eyes, legs, and feet. I helped Derek with this. With an older child, they could do this themself.
Ta-da! Here’s our final masterpiece! I love his little handprints and can’t wait to put this in my scrapbook. Until then, it is proudly displayed on our counter-top. Derek had a blast and put the remainder of the paint to good use. First he painted another picture and then…
He turned himself into an Indian Brave. Now, what did I say about paint getting everywhere? 
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble! Learning All About Thanksgiving Through Art
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? I certainly can’t. Where has the year gone? To get in the mood, the kids and I began a two-week Thanksgiving unit study today. Ethan is busily coloring a Thanksgiving Early Reader book I printed from www.enchantedlearning.com. Derek colored a fabulous yellow-and-orange-scribbled turkey. Alex is working on “pumpkin patch fractions” and is writing a poem about being thankful.
For today’s big project, we made turkeys. I found the kits in Target‘s dollar bins (which I love!) and kept them hidden until today. The kids were so excited! We constructed the paper birds out of heavy-duty card stock and stuck on lots of colorful stickers. Ethan wasn’t interested in this project, but Derek and Alex had a blast. Now we have colorful turkeys decorating our counter-top and desk. Derek’s turkey is very interesting… with pumpkins, leaves, and acorn stickers gracing its backside. To each their own right?
Our Thankful Tree is also coming together nicely. There are so many leaves! The trees outside may be getting bare, but ours is fuller than ever. It’s getting easier for the kids to think of things they’re thankful for each day. There are some great lessons being learned here!
The crafts, books, learning-projects, and adventures that surround each holiday are so much more magical with the kids. Everything interests and excites them. Although they are very noisy and make dreadful messes, I love my kids more than anything. Holidays are so much more meaningful when seen through their eyes.
Our Thankful Tree: Teaching Kids To Be Thankful for What They Have
Our Thankful Tree
In today’s fast-paced world of entitled kids, play rooms stock-full of flashing gadgets, and parents who give into junior’s every desire, it may seem odd to teach kids to be thankful for what they have. Isn’t that an old fashioned, outdated belief? That’s how it seems every time I see an ungrateful, spoiled little monster screaming uncontrollably at the toy store and their doting parent giving in because their child “deserves” whatever they want. When did this happen? Our ancestors would be ashamed.
November is a season of thanks and the perfect time to remember to thank God for the gifts he’s given us. Even if you’re not religious, it’s a great time to recall where we came from as Americans and be thankful for the great things we have today. The pilgrims endured great hardship to colonize this land. They suffered extreme hardships like disease and starvation and braved the elements in a time when there weren’t big, insulated homes and Target around the corner full of must-have cold-weather gear. November is a time to remember that we’re lucky and also to remember those who are less fortunate.
I’m far from perfect. My kids are very well-off and have many more toys and gadgets than they could possibly ”need” and I’m not that great at drilling thankfulness into their heads. While they’re not screaming beasts who demand new toys at every outing (we do believe in swatting when required…), they have a ways to go in the thankfulness department.
Borrowing an idea from my awesome and super-creative friend Laura, Alex and I constructed a “Thankful Tree” on our garage door this evening from a brown grocery bag and lots of tape. We drew leaf shapes on colorful construction paper and cut them out, then gathered the other children around.
Alex helps construct the Thankful Tree
Each day throughout the month of November, each of us will write something we’re thankful for on a cutout leaf and tape it to the tree. Alex was exuberant and wanted to make 30 leaves tonight. Not so fast, kiddo. This is a learning process. She quickly wrote “My family” on her thankful leaf and was the first to tape hers to the Thankful Tree.
Derek immediately grasped the concept of being thankful and was so cute. I asked him, “What are you thankful for, buddy?” His reply? “I is thankful that mommy made me a paper leaf.” Okay, then. He was so happy with himself for his creativity that I wrote it down on his Thankful Leaf and helped him tape it to the Tree too. It’s a start!
Ethan didn’t grasp the concept of being thankful no matter how many ways I rephrased it and how many examples I gave him. His answers made no sense, like “I will be good” or “I cry.” Hmmm. Eventually, I got “I like a good meal” out of him and figured that was a good start.
Hubby and I also wrote Thankful Leaves and added them to the tree. This is a lesson for all of us in realizing the blessings and richness around us. It’s a lesson in being happy for what we have. It’s a perfect lead-up to Thanksgiving and a way to bond as a family as well.
Thankful Leaves
We should be thankful every day for the glorious life we have. We’re mostly healthy and always have plenty to eat. We have a roof over our heads and clean clothes to wear. Sometimes we don’t stop to realize these things. Yet so many people go without these necessities. It’s time to slow down and smell the roses, so to speak.
What do you and your family have to be thankful for this year?
Our Thankful Tree
