Saturday, November 15, 2014

Thanksgiving with Toddlers: Giving it Meaning



Thanksgiving is well on it's way y'all! I'm excited! This is such a meaningful time to me. It's a time for family and friends and reflecting on all the things we have to be so very thankful for. I feel like this is so important, especially before all the gifts that come with the holiday season. It sets the tone for not simply getting, but giving and being thankful for what we receive! Thanksgiving is also a time for remembering our heritage. Indians and pilgrims people, you know the story!

So Reagan is three now and this year I decided she really needed some different ways to bring Thanksgiving into perspective. 

First, I bought her a Little People play set from Fisher Price.



You can find one here. She had so much fun setting up Thanksgiving dinner, saying prayers, and learning about how the pilgrims and the Native Americans came together for this celebration.

Now I've been out of school for some time and history was never my best subject, let's be honest here. I could remember the basics, but I was a little fuzzy on how the finer details of the first Thanksgiving came to be. I took my one major Christmas shopping trip of the year this week (have I mentioned that the closest mall is a little over an hour away?), and I decided that while I was picking out Christmas books, I needed to look for some Thanksgiving material to.

That's when I came across this beauty:



Anything I could possibly want to teach Reagan about Thanksgiving is right here in this handy children's book! I picked mine up at Barnes and Noble. They touch on the Mayflower, religion, Squanto, some of the pilgrims' struggles, and being thankful to God for our blessings. I cannot say enough how well-rounded this book is. I'm super impressed.

So Reagan and I read this book together (5 times in one sitting because she liked it so much), and we have been playing with her Thanksgiving play set. I felt like she had gotten enough out of them from our discussions and over the next couple of days I let her play on her own.

Then I had a proud mommy moment.

Reagan was playing and she told me she wanted a bowl of grapes. I fixed it for her and then instead of eating it she put them on the table along with some pumpkin decorations she found around the house. I asked her what she was doing and she told me that she wanted to have Thanksgiving right then and there. She said she needed to set the table so her friends and family could come dinner and thank God for everything they have! That right there makes my heart so happy! She was so excited about giving thanks to her Lord and sharing a meal with her friends and family!

So, how do you teach your littles about Thanksgiving? Comment below!

xoxo,

Katie

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