Thanks for the Giving

Today is Thanksgiving. What is its history? What are its implications? Feast your eyes on these holiday activities. Gobble them up!

CONNECT:

Visit the first Thanksgiving virtual to discover the location and history of that famous event and time: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

How does a turkey get from the farm to your table? Trace the trip at http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving/videos/american-eats-turkey-assembly-line?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

The History Channel also has a video about the technology behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving/videos/thanksgiving-day-parade-tech

We often think of Thanksgiving as one event that is food-centric, but that wasn’t the case 100 years ago. Enjoy looking as these photographs of Thanksgiving maskers; you might be reminded of Halloween: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/vintage-thanksgiving-phot_n_6213806.html

CREATE:

The Thanksgiving meal isn’t just the turkey. Each state has its own food specialties: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/?_r=0. Maybe you can help prepare a family specialty.

While some folks are cooking and watching sports, kids can have fun with these Thanksgiving activities: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/thanksgiving/ (Note that some older folks might need to help youngsters).

Have fun telling Thanksgiving jokes and riddles: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/jokes/topics/thanksgiving.shtml

CARE:

How much did you family spend on the Thanksgiving meal? Use this infographic http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/11/27/what-a-typical-thanksgiving-meal-costs-this-year/ to guide your calculations – and to compare costs for the last couple of years.

Did you know that the Pueblo people domesticated turkeys for their feathers – before thinking of them as food? You might care more for turkeys after viewing their history: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-the-making-of-a-turkey/7376/

Try one of these easy Thanksgiving service projects for kids: http://www.suburbia-unwrapped.com/2014/09/easy-thanksgiving-service-project-kids.html

CAREERS:

There are lots of ways to “slice up” careers related to Thanksgiving: from historians and writers to travel, entertainment and social workers. And don’t forget all the people involved in the food industry from farmers to waiters.
Did you know that one in six people work on Thanksgiving? We can all thank them for for efforts. Here are some details: http://abc7chicago.com/careers/survey-16-pct-of-employees-work-on-thanksgiving/410403/