This year, Thanksgiving 2017 is on November 23rd. It’s a little window of peace before Christmas, even if it’s a borrowed one from across the Atlantic. It was one of the key holiday events in my kids’ nursery school curriculum. We’ve run with it every year since they graduated nursery.

Thanksgiving 2017; Talking Turkey

We usually do a turkey craftivity and write about things we’re thankful for. This year, my younger child was a mini rebel and skipped the writing part. However, we have duly created our turkeys and talked about things for which we’re thankful. In the main, it’s vague concepts like family and home. But, there’s also a lot of specific things like Pokemon and YouTube. Okay. I can live with that. I can see they’re thankful for being loved and having happy times. It doesn’t matter how they choose to express it; I can decipher enough for my own thankfulness.

This has been a strange and difficult year. We’ve gone through some upheavals, which I can’t really talk about publicly. (I can only allude to some background issues.) But, the kids and I are safe, together and – for now – quite happy. We have friends and family around us. Life isn’t perfect. But, we are hopeful and staying positive. That’s reason enough to be very thankful this year and to keep our fingers crossed that we will see the year out in the same mood.

Thanksgiving 2017; Mixed Media Collages

I am still really in love with last year’s Thanksgiving Turkey Writing Activity by Ms Makinson. However, as soon as I showed it to my son, he promptly declared he didn’t want to do the same turkey as last time. Well, what could I do but source a different turkey craft?

I found a really cute Clothespin Turkey by Spring Time Doodles. It was deemed satisfactory so long as my younger child could skip the writing part. (Some days, you settle for what you can get; verbal discussion is as important as handwriting practice.) As skipping was the flavour of the day, I skipped the clothespegs and we turned it into a fun collage with real feathers.

One of our turkeys is purposefully deconstructed. That’s the great thing about being a child; you see the world differently and you’re not afraid to do things your way. To a child, precision doesn’t equal perfection. As we grow older, we become more bound by societal rules. I hope my kids will always feel this free but I know everyone grows old eventually. It took me a moment. But, now I can see the beauty again. I love seeing the world through my kids’ eyes.

Thanksgiving 2017 turkey mixed media collages.

Deconstructed turkey by my elder child and regular turkey by my younger child.

Thanksgiving 2017; Teaching Resources

Other themed resources for this Thanksgiving included a 3D Paper Craft Turkey from Twinkl. I have to say, he was a little bit challenging. I couldn’t decide whether to use paper or cardboard. Having opted for paper, I suspect thin cardboard would have been the better option. Our paper version isn’t keen on posing upright and wants to keel over backwards.

We also did one of our favourite activities: a KS1 Thanksgiving Word Search from Twinkl. As this was just a fun time filler, I used the HA and main levels for my KS2 kiddos. It gave them something to do while they were waiting for me to finish some of the fiddly scissor work, and taking turns with the PVA glue. (One of the glue bottles is nearly empty so the nearly full bottle was in high demand.)

Thanksgiving 2017 word search and 3D turkey craft by Twinkl.

Thanksgiving 2017; Thankfulness

In addition to all the things the kids and I are thankful for, I’m also very thankful for all my lovely readers. I’m thankful for my blog, which gives me a creative outlet and an online sanctuary. Life is full of challenges, big and small, but hope, effort, and gratitude go a long way to smoothing the road.

I hope you’ve had a great year and that you have many things to be thankful for. Let me know one or two of them in the comments below!