Thanksgiving is a holiday that provides many learning opportunities in a variety of areas of the curriculum. For lesson plans and activities, check out the links on the right.

Explore the origins of what is often noted as the First Thanksgiving between the Plymouth settlers and the neighboring Wampanoag Tribe.Scholastic: The First Thanksgiving

Help establish Thanksgiving vocabulary words with word scrambles, word searches and fill-in-the-blank worksheets

Involve students in the learning process hands on. Have younger children make arts and crafts centered around the pilgrims and Native Americans. Older children can explore early colonial lifestyles and history by building dioramas of settlements or encampments.Teacher Vision: Thanskgiving Activities and Lesson Plans

Students are often taught about one of the earliest recorded Thanksgiving celebrations, which took place at the Plimoth settlement in the year 1621. After suffering many hardships, the pilgrim settlers were blessed with a bountiful harvest. They gave thanks and celebrated with the neighboring Wampanoag Indian tribe. With the help of Squanto, the Wampanoag had taught the settlers how to cultivate the land. The dinner they enjoyed was slightly different from what we know today. Their feast consisted of dishes like venison, wild turkey, cheese pie, pumpkin custard and corn bread.National Parks Service: Historic Jamestowne: Jamestown and Plymouth: Compare and Contrast EnjoyMA: An Authentic Thanksgiving Dinner