On Monday, we began our eight-day long Thanksgiving unit in school. This is one of my favorite parts of every school year. We use many of the same books every year, and some of the same crafts, but we also read new titles, and find new things to make and do. There’s also always a field trip–in Kindergarten, it was simply a trip to Macy’s (after reading Milly and the Macy’s Parade), last year a trip to Cahokia Mounds, and this year, a trip to the St. Louis Art Museum to view the pre-Columbian and Native American art on display there.

So we dove right in on Monday, starting with the reading of two books. First was The Discovery of the Americas, which is the first in “The American Story” series, an excellent selection of books that introduces early American history to children.

We also read North American Indians, a repeat from last year, but a great introduction to some of the different tribes that have lived in America.

We started our “thankful turkey” on Monday, too (an idea inspired by previous years’ “thankful wreath” and “thankful tree”). Turkey and Bunny cut out the body and feathers, and after I hung the featherless turkey up in the school room, they each filled out a feather with something for which they are thankful. We will continue to do this every day of our Thanksgiving unit.

Our main craft for the day was designing and making Indian headdresses. This was a very fun activity, and it was fun to see how creative both Turkey and Bunny are, in very different ways!