Guest Author - Meg Grooms
One of the local groups I am involved with called upon me to organize a co-op a few Novembers ago. After contemplating several ideas I decided to go with a Thanksgiving theme. My major difficulty was keeping it fun for the smaller kids, while being as historically accurate as possible given our time and monetary restrains. The co-op was to be held outside so I decided upon a game day.
This co-op was designed for the younger portion of our support group, the kids aged 3 - 7 years. With a little creativity you can easily adapt this for older children. This co-op is designed to be offered at very little cost. In our case the parents are only asked to bring in a few supplies, with no participation fee.
Book Reading - Visit your library now to find the best Thanksgiving books. If by chance they don't you can put one on reserve or, swipe a story from the internet and go to town. The book "If You Were At The First Thanksgiving" is the book I went with, having a child read a portion of it before the activi
Activity #1 - We will discuss one basic need for survival - food. The children will be asked in question-and-answer form about what they think the Pilgrims and Native Americans ate, how they found food, etc. The children will then be given the chance to fish.
Before the co-op make a fishing pole or two our of a fallen oak branch (obviously light enough for a child to manage), a string and a magnet "hook". Cut fish out of tagboard or construction paper and attach a paperclip to it.
Activity #2 - We will then discuss how the fish were used not only for eating, but for planting. The children will tear the fish into pieces and plant it with a seed of corn. You can choose to use fish emulsion to actually fertilize the seed, it smells like fish but is already prepared. Fish emulsion is available at garden stores int he organics section for a few dollars.
Activity #3 - Water Race Game. The children will be split into teams and given several plastic containers filled with water. The teams will then race from one side of the yard to the other in order to water their corn crops. The first child in the team carries a bottle to the other side, then the next child, then the next, etc. Another option is to have the children form a human chain to pass the water bottles along from one side of the yard (the river) to the other (the crop). If you live in a warm climate you can opt to use buckets instead of plastic containers. Reinforce that the Native Americans didn't use plastic containers.
Activity #4 - Crows Vs. Crops. All that work planting, fertilizing, and watering, only to have your crop destroyed by birds!!! Split the children into two teams - the Crows and the Crops. Each “crop” gets an ear of dried corn, placed in a pants or shirt pocket. The “crows” represent the various pests that infiltrated the crops. The teams stand on opposite sides of the yard facing each other. When you yell “go” the teams run around the yard. The crows try to take the corn from the crops - gently! When you say "stop" everyone returns to their originating point and the corn ears are tallied. The group with the most wins. Play several games and see who ate the best that season!
Activity #5 - drum making & harvest dance. The harvest is in and it's time to party! Use containers, glue, construction paper, dry beans, and various decorations to fashion drums. Play Native American music as the basis for your drumming. Encourage the kids to dance to celebrate all their hard work!
