Indians and Pilgrims

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without our thankful Pilgrims!  Each of the pilgrims are holding a picture of my little one's families. At their age simplifying the concept of what being thankful means meant it needed to be associated with something they already comprehend, so FAMILY was perfect. 

I asked the parents a week before this craft to bring in a 4x6 photo of their family to use. The children made either a boy or girl pilgrim all wearing black pilgrim hats. I have seen several of these pilgrim crafts on Pinterest, but these little pilgrims are the ones I got inspired by. 

After each child was finished making their pilgrim I had them glue their family picture underneath the sentence "I am thankful for my family" as we talked more about what it meant to be thankful.

Overall, I was so happy with how this craft came out. The children were really receptive with what being thankful means to them and the importance of family. 

To finish up our day I read, One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims. I love how at the end of this book it shows the pilgrims and Indians praying before they ate, just as we do in my classroom everyday, this was exciting for my little ones to see.

My son made this Indian puppet (using a popsicle stick)in class last week while learning about the first Thanksgiving. 

 ..and finally, these adorable Indian and Pilgrim puppets were made by my daughter last week. Too cute, i know!!