Last modified: March 11, 2024

Thanksgiving Activities

• Turkey Hunt
• Thanksgiving Path Puzzle
• Thanksgiving Match
• Thanksgiving Mosaics
• Thanksgiving Hangman
• Thanksgiving Jigsaw
• Thanksgiving Short Stories

Thanksgiving Facts

Around the World in Thanksgiving (Flags)

• Canada
• South Korea
• China
• Japan
• Germany

The Pilgrims Facts

• A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey to a place of significance to their religious beliefs.
• The Pilgrims came to America to avoid the religious rules imposed by England. The Pilgrims were Calvinist Protestants (Protestantism). They followed the teachings of John Calvin on how to worship God.
• The Pilgrims had asked the king of England to allow them to form their own church. The king denied the Pilgrim’s request.
• The Pilgrims decided to move to Holland where religious freedom was practiced, and where they would be allowed to worship God as they saw fit.
• They lived in Holland until 1620, when they became dissatisfied with their situation and the effects that living in Holland was having on their children.
• In 1620, the Pilgrims moved back to England and prepared to leave for the New World.
• The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America. They sailed on a ship named the Mayflower.
• On December 11, 1620, the first Pilgrims (Puritans, as they were first known) landed at Plymouth Rock.
• The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims (strangers on their land) how to get the land ready for planting.
• By the fall of 1621, only half of the Pilgrims who had sailed on the Mayflower had survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to prepare a thanksgiving feast.
• The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621, in Massachusetts. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited.
• The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. The drink that the Puritans brought with them on the Mayflower was beer.
• The settlers were known as the “Old Comers”. The term “saints” and “pilgrims” are used after a manuscript by Bradford was discovered.
• In 1957, a replica of the Mayflower was built to commemorate the voyage made by the pilgrims.

Thanksgiving Webquest

• Thanksgiving Webquest

Extra Links for Webquest:

• Pilgrim Clothes
• The History of Thanksgiving
• Mayflower History
• Why We Eat Turkey
• Plimouth Plantation Interactive Fun