Our PreSchool Blog

Leading up to our class Thanksgiving feast, we talked all about how the first Thanksgiving came about!

We discussed that the Pilgrims came to America on the Mayflower and met the Indians who taught them how to hunt and farm in the Spring time. At the end of their harvest they had a feast to celebrate their hard work and new found friendship. We brought this all back to the student’s own lives and how it connected to their Thanksgiving today. As a class, we decided that the holiday was based around appreciation and being thankful for what we have 🙂 We made a list of what we were most thankful for on the board following this exercise.

To help us better understand the  story of Thanksgiving, we retold it together as we created a symbolic necklace.  Each colored bead on the string symbolized a part of the story. The kids had fun making the necklaces and it helped them to remember the story in a unique way! We sent a key home to parents so they could talk about the Thanksgiving necklaces outside of the classroom.

Just like the Pilgrims and Indians, we prepped our food for our feast!

And then we got to enjoy it together!!

As Thanksgiving nears, it is that time of year to learn about Native Americans.  Ms. Penny and Mr. Ron joined our class today to teach us all about the Native American culture.  The children rotated between four centers: crushing corn to make corn meal, jewelry making, learning about weapons used to hunt, and corn shucking & eating.

In the first center, the children learned how to pick the corn off of the cob, gather it onto a rock (similar to a mortar) then using another rock (similar to a pestle), crush the corn into cornmeal.  The children learned how to work together towards a common goal by helping each other pick of the corn and crush it.

In the second center, the children learned Native American traditions when it comes to jewelry.  The boys and girls were able to try on different pieces, learn about the different textures, then make a necklace of their very own!

In the third center, the children were able to discover bows and arrows, arrow heads, different animal skins & furs, and real bear claws.  The children enjoyed learning about the need for Native Americans to hunt and gather their food.  Holding a bow the proper way showed the children just how difficult hunting can be!

In the fourth center, the children were able to shuck the corn, just like the Native Americans did, and eat it right off the cob.  This was our most delicious center!