I don’t recall my first learning about Thanksgiving that well. I remember there being lots of fall colors oranges, browns, reds. We made turkey’s out of our hand prints that we had traced, then coloring them to look like a turkey. As a kid it was always all about coloring.

We learned about the trip on the Mayflower. I remember being taught about how the Native Americans had taught the pilgrims to grow food with dead fish as fertilizer. I always remember the feast that occurred out of school. The whole family would come together and give thanks for what had happened to them through the year.

The story I remember from elementary school was the one where the pilgrims found America after a very long journey on the Mayflower. Once here they struggled to survive, numbers being dwindled by disease and hunger. The native Americans taught them how to hunt and grow crops on the land. The big feast in the story I remember was sort of celebrating the crops and the pilgrims ability to survive off of the land because of the Native Americans. Of course this feast was shared with the Native Americans. I don’t remember ever having a Thanksgiving play but I could be wrong.

I remember the crafts getting cooler as I went to a higher grade. Things like the pictures of turkeys made from the shape of your hand in paint. Paper cut out projects of turkeys, or making head bands with feathers to represent the Native Americans. In higher grades we made turkeys out of candy corn pretzels and rice krispies, which was awesome. I can remember having pot lucks in class the last day before Thanksgiving break, not with regular turkey feasts but whatever each student signed up to bring. Also we always had a turkey and gravy lunch at school sometime during that week.

Oh to celebrate Thanksgiving in elementary school again.

Back in elementary school, I learned that the first Thanksgiving was a day of great happiness and triumph. The pilgrims had endured a very difficult year of famine and travel in order to arrive and settle in the New World. During the first months of their settlement, more than half of the colony died because of starvation. Then, some Native Americans came and taught the settlers how to grow food and hunt for meat on this new strange land. The Natives and the pilgrims learned to live at peace with each other. After the harvest, it was that day that the pilgrims and the Native Americans were first able to sit together in peace and enjoy a meal they worked hard to harvest. It was a day set aside to remember to be grateful for everything they had accomplished, and everything they were able to enjoy.

There were many elementary activities around Thanksgiving, some to further understanding of the history around the holiday, and other activities that were just for fun. I remember learning that on Thanksgiving people like to eat turkey. In one class, we made a handprint out of paint and decorated it to make it look like a turkey. I remember coloring cornucopias as well. Thanksgiving was made to be one of my favorite holidays early in life. Partially because of the food, and also because of the fond way it was taught to me in elementary school.