Savoring the Season with Thanksgiving

Nostalgia has been floating around me the last few months. Maybe it was when my oldest turned ten years old that it hit me, or maybe it had slowly been creeping in for a while. What ever way it found me, it has hit me hard. As I have spent the last few months savoring my favorite season- fall, I have also been savoring the season of life that includes these children of mine. I was reminded of just how precious the time we have together is as I was planning school activities for the Month of November; as I thought of how the kids have changed in the 5 short years I have been homeschooling.

Just four short years ago the month of November included Thanksgiving activities like inviting  friends over to dress as pilgrims while we dressed as natives

     
and making shakers

and having a pie tasting to find out what was the favorite type- pumpkin, apple, cherry, or pecan- we then made a chart- aka math .I wish I had taken a picture....... I did get a picture  of the cookie making though:) well Lisa did.

and the feast- my girlfriend Lisa gets all the credit for making the decorations!  

and building a pilgrim village with Lincoln Logs

And of course making a wishbone rubbery using vinegar 

We also watched a virtual field trip/ tour of a pilgrim village and Wampanoag village.

Fast forward four  years and the activities have greatly changed! To start with I purchased the reproducible models packet from Teacher Express through Scholastic online of "The Pilgrims, The Mayflower, and More". Probably the best $11.00 I have ever spent.

http://teacherexpress.scholastic.com/easy-make-learn-projects-the-pilgrims-the-mayflower-more

If you haven't checked it out and you are a homeschooler or a school teacher, you should know that Scholastic has amazing products and Resources online including a Thanksgiving lesson plan and video/ field trips, printables, etc for K-12. I have used it since my oldest was in  Kindergarten.   Amazing!    

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/



So some of the activities we worked on from the Packet I purchased.......... 

3D model of the Mayflower with fold down side panel so you can see the cargo and passengers on the Mayflower.

This was a cute project! We made this mayflower voyage map and then watched the voyage of the mayflower via scholastic online. The kids moved their paper mayflowers along the route as the video went along with information at different points.

This was a tri-fold of the old and new world so that the kids could compare where the Pilgrims had come from and what the land they were going to was like.

We learned about and compared the ways in which the natives and pilgrims gathered and hunted for food . This was a wrap around that fits a standard metal food can. The other side shows the pilgrims.

and compare and contrast paper villages. It also includes some basic information on plotting a line on a graph

Amazingly enough there are more activities that were included in the packet that we did not get to. I guess that means I have some things for next year already then.


So not part of the packet but another fun thing we did was a gratitude/ Thanksgiving tree. The leaves were purchased at Michael's for only $4.00

This is a beautiful book that we read and is filled with Christian virtues. The story of Priscilla Mullins.

and last but not least a fun craft just because. I went to the dollar store and purchased 3 glass plates, a packet of colored tissue paper, and a strand of fall leaves $5.00 total- we had glue. Flip the plates over and coat heavily with school glue. Then apply any decorations( leaves in our case) next glue on the tissue paper. Allow to dry thoroughly( up to 3 days in some cases) and then trim the edges.

And the result is homemade decorative plates for your wall. The plan is to let the kids make one for each season so the art changes throughout the year.

I can honestly say we have had a lot of fun this year and I have enjoyed watching the kids change but I can not help but miss their younger years a little. I hope that whatever season of life you are  in that you are able to see the beauty of what is in front of you. We are far from perfect but we are perfectly blessed.