Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten
Happy November!
It’s hard to believe that November is already here and that means Thanksgiving is just around the corner! With that being said, I have been getting my kindergarten Thanksgiving activities together so I am not rushing last minute to prepare! Below you will see my favorite Thanksgiving activities for kindergarten! There are two freebies available for download below! Keep reading to check them out!
Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten
Count and Clip Cards
Count and clip cards are a fantastic activity for building important fine motor skills and building number sense! You can also have students place a manipulative on top of each object they are counting!
There are so many varieties of clothespins to use too!
Printable Counting Books – With a Craft!
My kiddos LOVE these crafting and counting books! This is a fun craft that they can complete on their own within a math center! Plus they can practice pointing and reading the text!
This is the tissue paper that I purchased. There are so many colors and PLENTY to use for crafting and counting books as well as other crafts throughout the school year!
Write the Room
Writing the room is an activity that I use with my class ALL OF THE TIME!
Spin and Write Sight Words
Kids love using paperclips! Give them a paperclip and a pencil, and they will be spinning for sight words all of center time!
Rather than using paperclips, I also found these clear spinners! I have not tried them yet but they are on my Amazon wishlist!
Thanksgiving Sensory Bins
I am working to bring back the popularity of sensory bins in the kindergarten classroom! Sensory learning is so important for young children. Not only do sensory bins provide a different avenue for learning academics, but they also provide tactile learning, social skills, vocabulary acquisition, and so much more!
In the sensory bin pictured below, students are finding ten frame cards and tracing the number on the recording sheet. My sensory bins are differentiated so I can be sure they are developmentally appropriate for every student!
Thanksgiving Sensory Bins for Kindergarten
Roll and Write Sight Words
These jumbo cubes are so versatile! I use them for almost every center block, all I need to do is switch out the cards! As an added plus, sharing the jumbo cube and interacting to do so helps to build social skills! So important in early elementary!
Ten Frame Activities for Kindergarten
Ten frames are a tool I am ALWAYS using in my classroom! They are a helpful, visual tool to help build number sense in children! This is also a simple math center that involves little instruction and direction from you!
The best news, this is a FREEBIE that you can grab below!
Count and Link
Count and link is a simple, number sense math center that also works on building those fine motor muscles! Most classroom should already have the chain links, if not, you can see them below!
Thanksgiving Feast For Kindergarten
Have you ever had Thanksgiving Feast with your kindergarteners? If not, it is the CUTEST thing ever and it is so much easier than it looks! I delegate the menu to my parent helpers and they work with the other classroom parents to send in all of the items. Our menu consists of:
- Turkey Sandwiches
- Cranberry Sauce
- Carrot sticks
- Ranch Dip
- Fruit
- Some type of “healthier” dessert
- Juice
If you need to find times to invite parents in through the school year, this is one! Parents can help set up, serve, assist students, cleanup and put things away.
FREEBIE! Sensory Bin Filler Cheat Sheet
Below you can download a FREE sensory bin filler cheat sheet! I always include sensory bins in my centers to ensure that my kiddos are learning in a fun, developmentally appropriate way! I also encourage my students to have conversations at the sensory bin center to work on language development and social skills. This cheat sheet is a keeper when you are creating your lesson plans!
To view other sensory bin ideas, see my fall and Halloween posts!
Classroom Management Ideas for Centers
Kayla, over at The Average Teacher, posts about several different classroom management strategies that she has used in order maximize time in her classroom. You can check our her blog post, The Most Effective Classroom Management Plan I Ever Used, here!
Have you used Morning Meeting as a time to build a strong classroom community? Having a strong classroom community is SO important in building a structured, fun, and SAFE learning environment for others! Allie The Gypsy Teacher created a detailed plan, Building A Classroom Community From Day 1, and is worth a look!
Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten
I hope that these activities can help you in your Thanksgiving planning! Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving both with your class and family!
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!