Thanksgiving Traditions STEAM Unit

Thanksgiving Traditions STEAM Unit

Hey y'all! I hope you have had a fabulous start to the school year! It's finally October and this is my absolute favorite time of year. Apples, pumpkins, changing leaves… It's just so beautiful.

I've been working hard over here (on the back porch and watching the leaves change) to get Thanksgiving centers up and ready. It's right around the corner, you know. And soon, we'll be watching all the Charlie Brown specials about it!

For these science centers, we'll be starting off the week reading 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving and making a class book disguising our turkeys so they don't get eaten. 

This STEAM unit integrates more subjects than ever before. Being that it focuses on traditions, it only seems right to include an "I am Thankful" poem. 

We also read about the traditions most Americans follow on the big day. (I left out watching football. If that offends you, I'm sorry!) :-p

My students' favorite activity last year was testing which holiday foods sank and which floated. This is so easy to setup! I just grabbed a can of cranberries, a small package of rolls, some turkey lunch meat, and a bag of carrots. They LOVED it. You could even ask parents to send in donations. Parents LOVE to help out with science stuff!

Then on Friday, we made the simplest pumpkin pie recipe ever. Just throw some graham crackers in the bottom of a cup, mix milk with pumpkin pie Jell-O and spoon on top, and enjoy! Feeling snappy? Put a dollop of whipped cream on top! It's so easy and the kids where so excited they didn't even hesitate to write the steps down in their notebooks.

We also play a little Thanksgiving Bingo on Friday as well. The kids color, cut, and paste the pieces where they want them and their bingo cards are done! (You could even have them set this up at the beginning of the week and play it whenever they need a little brain break!) 

The week before a holiday is always so chaotic. These centers include so many ways to keep your littles engaged and learning right up to the break! You can check out this unit here, and all of the Thanksgiving centers here. 

I hope you found some ideas you can use in your classroom this Thanksgiving. I'm always adding new resources so be sure to follow me on TPT for all the latest updates, ideas, and resources. Have a wonderful week and I'll talks to you soon. 

Stay cozy,