How To Teach Your Preschooler About Thanksgiving

At Parkland Children’s Academy, we discuss how to teach your preschooler about Thanksgiving in an age-appropriate and historical way, as well as give you some ideas for fun activities to do with your child around the theme of Thanksgiving.

Ask Your Child What They Already Know

Even if you and your child have never discussed Thanksgiving before, they likely already know something about the holiday’s history from other relatives, teachers, or friends. This is a good way to open up the conversation and introduce the Native American perspective of Thanksgiving.

Learn Together

It is up to you how detailed you want to be when you tell your child the story of the first Thanksgiving and the events that led up to it. However, you should be prepared for a barrage of questions that you might not know all the answers to. Reading picture books by indigenous authors together can help you and your child get a better understanding.

Encourage Intellectual Curiosity

Take the opportunity to encourage intellectual curiosity in your child and encourage them to be inquisitive everywhere they go. However, make it clear to your preschooler that while it’s okay to be curious, it’s important to be respectful of others as well.

Find The Right Resources

There are many Thanksgiving books available to help you have an age-appropriate discussion with your child. Make a trip to the library with your preschooler to find some of them.

Consider Traditional Food

Food is a central part of the Thanksgiving holiday for many families, and this can provide a good opportunity to learn about traditional Native American foods.

It may be fun for you and your preschooler to find a few recipes for traditional Native American dishes and ty making some.

Be Thankful

You will want your discussion about Thanksgiving to acknowledge indigenous perspectives and be historically accurate. However, this does not mean leaving thankfulness and gratitude out of the conversation altogether. Be prepared to take turns with your child as you share the things in your lives that you are grateful for.

Thanksgiving Activities With Your Preschooler

Thanksgiving-themed activities with your preschooler can be a good way to make learning about this holiday fun and memorable for them. There are many activities you can try together, ranging from artistic to developmental to educational in nature.

As we mentioned above, you can have your child make a traditional Native American dish to enjoy. This will teach them to value other cultures, and they will learn culinary skills while doing so.

You and your child can use feathers to paint with and make turkey art. There are also many crafts you can do with Playdough, such as making a fall-themed Playdough tray with items like acorns, leaves, mini pumpkins, tree slices, twigs, and more. You can also try making a turkey Playdough tray with beads, feathers, and googly eyes.

This is also a great time for activities that will help your child develop their fine motor skills. Your child can make a turkey feather beaded necklace or make Thanksgiving-themed tear art by tearing pieces of fall-colored construction paper and gluing it to a printout of a fall- or Thanksgiving-themed coloring page.

You can also make a Thanksgiving-themed sensory bin for your child to play with. Here are some ideas of what materials to include:

• Corn
• Cranberries in water
• Feathers
• Silk leaves
• Small pumpkins
• Squares of tissue paper in fall colors
• Straw

sy zee

2021-04-18

Stacy is simply the best!! We just adore the way she is; both as a person and as an early childhood developmental specialist. I highly recommend Parkland Children’s Academy to all my friends and family in need of responsible and caring children’s preschool services.

Jamie Celcis

2019-05-15

Where to Begin..... One of the most amazing schools I’ve ever dealt with (and I’ve dealt with a lot) it’s been a tough road trying to find a school that excepts children with ( severe autism ) we’ve been kicked out and discriminated on! But when I came across Parklands children academy I was in tears about how I’ve been treated by other schools and they made me feel so at home and like family .... I can’t express the gratitude for all the love they show my kids and support.... if your looking for a school to trust with your children it’s them! They’ll treat them like their own and I couldn’t be more grateful 💜 And Danielle the owner and her mom are such Angels 😇 Thank you ladies for your services and kind hearts and understanding for my situation ❤️🧡💛💚

A S

2019-03-28

I am leaving this review a bit late, however, due to the feedback I got recently at a PTC (Parent Teacher Conference) for my son, who is in Kindergarten, I wanted to leave a review. The teacher of our son, said that he was exceptionally prepared for Kindergarten and that PCA consistently produces the most prepared students from VPK>K. This is coming from one of the better schools in Broward. I am surprised to see negative reviews about Miss Donna and staff. They are warm, loving people who, when my son and I recently ran into her at a local store (Hobby Lobby) he ran up to her and hugged her and told her he missed her. I cannot say enough about the school and my wife and I are about to have our 2nd child and will enroll them in the "baby school" (as they call it) which is a secondary location right near the main school. 5 stars. FYI, any negative reviews are likely from spoiled "Parkland" people who think way too much of themselves and not enough about their kids education...…

Cari Tramontano

2018-09-24

This school is fantastic! I had my kids (2&5) at another daycare in the beginning, then I had friends telling me how amazing Parkland Children's Academy was and how much their kids were learning already, so my husband and I decided to move them over to this school and it was the best decision we could have made! Mrs. Donna and Mrs. Danielle are fantastic to work with in the front and they will walk you through everything they do with the children! My kids have been learning so much and actually get upset when its pickup time!! That was a sign I knew it was the right move. We love this school and everything that our children are learning! Did I mention how clean and organized they are too! If you are looking for a daycare/VPK program, THIS IS YOUR SCHOOL!! We love PCA!!

Natassia Montagna

2018-06-04

My daughter has attended Parkland Children's Academy for almost a year now. The teachers and staff are absolutely amazing there. My daughter loves going to school every day. They do so many arts and crafts projects and they are super creative. My daughter started attending at 3 mo old and they were always very on top of her schedule for feedings, naps, diaper changes, medicine, etc. I trust my child with these amazing teachers 100%. My daughter is always happy when I take her to school and happy when I pick her up. I have recommended Parkland Academy to all my friends and some of them attend here also and they absolutely love it.

Richard Nieves

2018-06-03

My wife and I have been taking our daughter to PCA for almost a year now and she absolutely loves it. There are some days where she does not want to leave. The teachers are so amazing with the kids; doing arts and crafts, circle time with music and songs and weekly themes that help them learn and interact with one another. These teachers care for these kids as if they were their own. Any negative review for PCA should not be taken to heart, especially when it comes from someone that was there for all of five minutes. These teachers are amazing. This school is amazing. We have not had one bad experience and highly recommended this school to other parents because we believe in PCA. If you have toured other schools, you will know that PCA raises the bar as far as quality goes. It’s clean, safe and filled with amazing teachers and kids. We love you PCA and we love the amazing infant/toddler room!!

Simone Maxwell

2018-06-01

My daughter has been attending PCA for the past four months. I went to several daycares before selecting PCA. First off- the facilities are very clean, secure and the staff is wonderful. She’s my firstborn and I’m overly protective, so I would never leave her in a facility where she’s unhappy. She doesn’t even say bye to myself or her dad when we drop her off because she’s content. She’s well taken care of, happy and learning new things. I was nervous initially and emailed all the time, I always got a response that calmed me down. Plus with the security features, I could always see what’s happening on the cameras. Normally, I don’t write reviews but I’m very disheartened by the disparaging comments below. These are people’s livelihoods & children, so we have to be careful what we post online, especially when it’s assumptions or conclusions drawn (in this case-during a tour )without all the facts. Keep up the good work Dalea, Stacy, Elizabeth & PCA owners!

Google rating score: 4.8 of 5, based on 24 reviews

Finding A Preschool In South Florida

Parkland Children’s Academy is a daycare and preschool in Parkland, Florida. Our VPK program teaches language, pre-math, pre-reading, and social skills that will help prepare young children for kindergarten, and it is free for all children in Florida who turn four years old on or before September 1st. It is offered as a 540-hour program during the school year or a 300-hour program during the summer.

Additionally, we offer after-school care for children in grade school, which offers extracurricular activities, homework help, outdoor playtime, and transportation from your child’s school. To learn more about our Parkland Preschool, call today at 954-688-5877.