Ideas for a Simple Elementary Homeschool Thanksgiving Unit Study

by girlseeksjoy · Published November 11, 2022 · Updated January 31, 2023

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Here are a few simple ideas you can use to put together a elementary school homeschool Thanksgiving unit study for preschool – second graders.

This post is a bit last minute, as Thanksgiving in a short two weeks away… but if I was able to pull together a simple Thanksgiving unit study to do with my 2nd grader and preschooler in one evening, you’ll be able to get this together in time too.

I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t want to be a homeschooler. I felt the nudge that God had put on my heart long before my oldest started school, but much like many things in my life, I was resistant.

Like so many moms out there, I loved being home with my kids, but also looked forward to the years when I would kiss them and send them off to school and have the day to drink my coffee slow, redirect my energy toward my own dreams and goals or fold the laundry, you know, whatever.

When COVID shut the country down, I knew it would be easier to homeschool my child than get him to sit in front of a zoom session all day… I knew this was the moment I needed to just trust that nudge and surrender.

When we recently moved across the country to a state closer to my family, I had full intentions of sending my kids to school here. Because I like to do things my way…

But again, I felt God’s nudge… “nope, that’s not what I want you to do”.

It honestly took some time to “mourn” the way I thought my life was going to look and how it actually is looking right now. And this is not to say that we won’t do school at some point down the line, but for now, I need to listen and trust.

A few nights ago I had the fleeting thought to take some time to sit down and plan a Thanksgiving unit for our homeschool. Up until then, I had been going through the motions with a curriculum that I really love, but I wasn’t lit up from teaching it (how do I expect them to be then?).

So with laptop balancing on my lap and a lengthy visit to Pinterest, I pulled together a plan I was super excited to share with my kids.

That night when I climbed into bed I was talking a mile a minute about Squanto and the dishes that were served at the first Thanksgiving (hint, they were nothing like the traditional Thanksgiving dishes we know and love today). This excitement, this feeling… I felt I was on to something. The smallest amount of intention can change everything.

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I am so excited to show this to the kids. While we plan on making the 3 hour trip to Plymouth some other year to do an in person field trip, a virtual field trip is perfect for this season of our lives.

A virtual field trip to Plymouth Plantation

Make

While not exactly a traditional Thanksgiving craft, my kids and I are going to make candles, both hand dipped and poured. It was traditional in colonial history for children to help make candles to light their home at night.

For me, candles spelled H-Y-G-G-E, and I love to throw in as much of that as possible into our homeschool days.

I know there is a lot of trash talking going around about candles and how unhealthy they can be. I need to stop right here and say, “don’t take away my candles”. Luckily, however, even with a clean living lifestyle, you can still enjoy the delightful flickering of a candle all winter long with healthier candle ingredients.

Ingredients to consider:

Simple recipe for hand dipped candles

Hand poured candles

Here are the exact items I ordered:Wax

Soy wax flakes (soy burns cleaner but last longer than beeswax- it’s also a more neutral scent than beeswax)
Candle making kit
Glass mason jars – yes, I plan on making a lot of candles, haha. My sons exact goal is to make enough to get us through the winter.
Wax coated hemp wick– this spool is to make the hand dipped candles.

Cook

I know that there will be plenty of learning opportunity on Thanksgiving day itself, but I thought it would be fun to do a few special things in the kitchen the week leading up to the holiday.

I used to teach preschool, and a very common activity we would do each year before Thanksgiving was make butter. This feels like a super simple activity I can get all my kiddos involved in (including my 2 year old), and we can get a practical, delicious (and nutritious) food product in a short amount of time.

What you’ll need:

a baby food jar or small mason jar
heavy whipping cream
muscles
a pinch of salt
(optional) marbles

Instructions:

fill small mason jar half way with cold heavy whipping cream (make sure you only fill it half way as you’ll need room for the milk to shake around!). Add the pinch of salt to the cream.
Start shaking!
This process can take around 10-15 minutes if you are NOT using the marbles (the marbles in the jar will help to speed up the process) so it’s helpful to pass that little jar around to as many little hands as you can.
10-15 minutes is a lifetime to a kiddo (heck, it might be to me too when shaking a jar of cream), so maybe listen to a fun kids podcast (we enjoy Who Smarted)

you may also enjoy: The French Inspired Homeschooling Mom Capsule Wardrobe

Ideas for a Simple Elementary Homeschool Thanksgiving Unit Study

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