Looking for fun Thanksgiving activities for your upper elementary classroom? Look no further. We have compiled a list of engaging activities that your students will love. Content shared by: MARISSA DESPINS, JACQUELINE ORTIZ, MARIANNA MONHEIM, JEANINE SCHNEIDER, JENNIFER MARTINEZ, SHELLY REES and RACHEL DEROCHE
thanksgiving activities for upper elementary
Your kiddos are lost in daydreams, imagining turkeys dancing and leaves falling as they think about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. They’re ready for a break, and I bet you are too!
To calm the jitterbugs and antsy movers, we have compiled a list of fun and engaging Thanksgiving activities to bring excitement and meaningful learning into your upper elementary classroom.
These Thanksgiving activities will help you do just that! From grammar centers and engaging escape rooms to gratitude-based lessons and narrative writing, these activities offer a variety of ways to capture students’ interest before the holiday break. Read to learn more.
thanksgiving grammar centers
These fun November Grammar Centers bring the excitement of the holiday season into the classroom with hands-on activities that help students review key grammar skills.
From identifying types of sentences in “Turkey Catastrophe” to mastering possessives in the “Passing Through with Possessives” game, these activities are designed to keep your kiddos engaged while reinforcing essential grammar concepts.
Each center features a seasonal theme and covers a range of skills, including singular nouns, verb tenses, and context clues, providing a comprehensive review for students in an enjoyable way.
To learn more about this Thanksgiving activity for your upper elementary classroom, check out Uniquely Upper’s blog post on November Grammar Centers.
thanksgiving Stem Activities
Marissa from Creative Classroom Core loves pulling out Thanksgiving themed STEM Challenges during the last week before Thanksgiving break. STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, has become a buzzword in education circles for good reason.
This integrated approach to learning not only makes these subjects more engaging and relevant but also equips students with crucial skills for the future. As an upper elementary teacher, Marissa feel she has a unique opportunity to introduce her students to the wonders of STEM education. Marissa loves how STEM activities challenge her students to think critically, solve problems, and apply their knowledge in practical situations.
To read more about STEM education, and some fun activities you can pull out in the hectic days before Thanksgiving break, check out the Creative Classroom Core Blog!
Fall Writing Bulletin Board
Jacqueline from The Little Ladybug Shop knows that fall is truly a magical season, with the crisp air and special events creating the perfect backdrop for engaging classroom activities.
It’s a wonderful time to plan everything from Fall Learning Bulletin Boards to Autumn-themed books that inspire students. Who doesn’t love fall-inspired writing, poetry, and seeing students flourish during this pumpkin-filled, thankful season?
Let the fall learning fun begin! Check out this blog for more ideas to bring the season into your classroom!
Thanksgiving Narrative Writing
Food, family, fun…Thanksgiving is a time when memories are created, making it the perfect springboard for writing narratives.
Marianna from Creatively Comprehensive loves helping students refine their Thanksgiving memories into solid narratives with a beginning, middle, and end. The key? Graphic organizers!
In this info-packed post, Marianna shows you how to get students to complete AND use their graphic organizer to write a compelling Thanksgiving story based on their own unique experiences.
Gratitude Thanksgiving activities
What comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving in the classroom? Thanksgiving originally became a holiday in 1863 when President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November a holiday for all Americans to give thanks for the general blessings that they had in their lives.
The original concept of Thanksgiving was gratitude. Somewhere over the years celebrating Thanksgiving in classrooms moved away from gratitude.
This November, Jeanine from Think Grow Giggle can help you bring back the concept of gratitude and what the holiday originally was created for in your classroom with these Thanksgiving activities that you might not have thought to do!
thanksgiving kindness activity
As educators, we often look for ways to incorporate character education into our already packed schedules. Jennifer from everything just so found that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to focus on kindness in the classroom.
It’s a time when students are naturally more receptive to lessons about gratitude and compassion. Introducing kindness activities during Thanksgiving can set the stage for year-round character development.
In this post, Jennifer shares her easiest way of weaving kindness, mindfulness, and thankfulness into your every day routine. It begins with a Thanksgiving-themed activity but is designed to be used throughout the school year.
If you’re looking for a practical way to nurture kindness in the classroom without adding “one more thing” to your already long list of things to do, check out this simple but effective exercise. It might just transform the atmosphere in your classroom as it did hers!
Thanksgiving Escape Room
Turkeys, pumpkin pie, and . . . a fun escape room! So, maybe Thanksgiving isn’t a normal “party” day in school. But now it can be with a Thanksgiving-themed escape room activity! Shelly Rees from Appletastic Learning knows that students love escape room activities so much, they don’t even realize how much they are learning, practicing and reviewing.
Why not create a Thanksgiving escape room party? In this Escape Room Party post, Shelly shows you how to easily set up a fun and engaging turkey escape room that your students will love from start to finish!
Students will gobble up each of the five multiplication tasks, including color by code, turkey match-up, and logic puzzle!
Looking for more Thanksgiving Activities?
Check out these related blog posts for more fun activities.
