Pilgrim Day

One of my favorite annual traditions in my 1st grade classroom is "Pilgrim Day!"  Pilgrim Day is a day (or few days) spent living like the Pilgrims did and learning about life long ago.  We wrap up our learning with a field trip to a local historical society park where students get to experience even more of what life in the past was like.  Below is an outline of everything I do for Pilgrim Day!

We begin our study of life long ago with this long ago/today sorting activity shown below.  After we complete the sort together, we do the matching cut and paste worksheet that's included.

We read two great books about life for a pilgrim boy vs. a pilgrim girl.  They are shown below with affiliate links.

      

We do another sort about the things boys had to do and the things girls had to do.

We "hunt" and "gather" using our baskets and/or bags.  The girls have certain foods they have to gather and the boys have certain animals they have to hunt for.

We read a mini-book about Pilgrim children.

We write on chalkboards during Phonics/Fundations time...this is always a blast!!!  *I got my chalkboards from a craft store years ago.  

We make butter and I spread it on crackers for the kids to try.  They also take the recipe card home.

Here's another sort about kids today vs. Pilgrim kids.

We play "Pilgrim games."  A favorite is naughts and crosses aka tic-tac-toe.  We also tell riddles and tongue-twisters.  

We watch the Brain Pop Jr. video about the first Thanksgiving as well as make Kindergarten Smiles' Pilgrim crafts!  So adorable!

The above activities and many more are included in my best-selling pack, "Pilgrim Day," which is shown below.  These activities are great to do the two days prior to Thanksgiving break.  We have the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so we will be completing the activities towards the end of this week.  I'd love for you to check out "Pilgrim Day" below!

xo

Megan