Using Thanksgiving to Homeschool

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, you may find yourself wondering how to celebrate Thanksgiving with kids, and incorporate it into your homeschool. Even if you plan to take a break from teaching normal academics, you can still foster a love for learning by using the holiday itself. “Um, Charlene, how would I do that?” I’m glad you asked! I have five quick and practical ways for using Thanksgiving to homeschool.

5 Ways to Use Thanksgiving to Homeschool

Before sharing my awesome tips, let me first say that homeschooling through the holidays is totally a personal choice. Some years we take *cough* (much more) *cough* time off during the holidays to give everyone a break, and other times we intentionally keep up with some form of teaching/learning, even if it’s not planned. My tips below will show you just how fun and easy learning during the holidays can be. As a matter of fact, your children won’t even realize they’re doing it!

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Make it about the children.

One of the easiest ways to do this for the Thanksgiving holiday is by using a gratitude challenge and/or journal. These are usually specifically designed with inward reflection in mind, meaning children will be asked to either think of things they’re grateful for or to show an outward sign of thanks by intentionally doing something for others. You may also learn some interesting things about your children while doing this, such as what they like, what they desire to do, and unique ways they think about helping others.

Have a Coloring Good Time.

I don’t know many children who don’t like to color, paint, or do some type of doodling, so why not use it as a way to teach about Thanksgiving. Coloring pages (like the ones in my free mini Thanksgiving bundle) can be used with crayons, coloring pencils, markers, or even paint (consider printing on card stock if you go this route). Then, use the finished products as decorations around your home. It’s a win-win!

Play Thanksgiving-themed Games.

Another childhood (and adult, let’s be honest) fave are playing games. My Thanksgiving Bundle includes lots of printable games that would be fun to do as a family or independently. From Soduko and Tic Tac Toe to Bingo and Word Search, your child will have a blast playing the games. If you have competitive kiddos, have them race to see who finishes a word search first. Or, set a timer and whoever has the most complete when it goes off gets a reward.

Learn about Attributes of the Season.

With Thanksgiving being in the middle of the fall season, there are a lot of things your children can learn about that would be more intriguing versus feeling like a lot of work. For example, learning the history of scarecrows and corn mazes could give them a new perspective and encourage them to want to know more.

With the corn maze and scarecrow unit studies I created, children learn about the history, make their own, learn life principles, and can even take a (virtual) field trip. We love doing these as a family and there is something for every child.

Cook a Thanksgiving meal together.

If you have a house full of kids like I do (we have 7!), then you’ll have plenty of hands on deck to help with cooking a feast. However, cooking together is only half the blessing. If you decide to do this in your home, not only will you end up with a meal that everyone pitched in on, but you will have fostered love, gratitude, and relationships all at the same time.

In a day and time when most families are consumed by technology, it would be nice to be consumed by one another. Plus, you never know… cooking as a family can become a tradition that lasts for generations to come!

Whether you decide to take a full-on break or want to take it easy, use the ideas mentioned above to make homeschooling through Thanksgiving fun! Don’t forget to snag my free mini educational Thanksgiving bundle before you go!

Free Mini Educational Thanksgiving Activity Bundle

Celebrating Thanksgiving with kids can be a lot of fun, what with all the resources available online these days. If you’re looking for educational Thanksgiving activities that are simple and child-friendly, then have I got the collection for you.

Introducing the free Mini Educational Thanksgiving Activity Bundle! This bundle is a miniature version of the gigantic bundle you can currently find over in the shop.

Inside this mini bundle you will receive:

• 4 Thanksgiving-themed sudoku puzzles (with answer key)
• 1 Thanksgiving-themed word search (with answer key)
• 1 Multiplication color-by-equation worksheet featuring a colorful turkey

All for the low, low price of absolutely nothing! Consider this my gift to you as you enjoy learning and playing this Thanksgiving season.

Or take a look at our other holiday homeschool content, or our Thanksgiving with kids specific content.