Tag Archives: on-line activities

Are you looking for an online Thanksgiving activity for kids? What about an activity that is historically accurate, that teaches kids about the different people that lived in the 1600s, and includes primary sources?

At Plimoth Plantation on-line learning activity, kids become historians and use multimedia to discover the origins of Thanksgiving

I have scoured the internet for on-line, age-appropriate learning opportunities about the origins of the US holiday Thanksgiving, and this activity from Plimoth Plantation is the best. Your kids will take the role of a historian, and investigate primary sources (such as the first letter to ever mention a fall feast at Plymouth), historical facts about the Wampanoag people and English colonists (such as their housing, diet, and celebrations), and view their relationship on a timeline from both the American Indians’ and the settlers’ perspectives. Along the way they can hear real historians talk about the investigative process, such as how they might determine if something is authentic or a myth. The culminating activity has your kids typing captions under the graphic they choose and explaining what they learned about Thanksgiving. I loved the images, the voice recordings, the information on the Wampanoag people, and the critical thinking skills this activity entails- definitely two thumbs up!

Do you have any more ideas for activities or web sites that can help kids gain a more accurate perspective about Thanksgiving? Share them in the comments!  Also check out the book “1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving.” where Plimoth Plantation historians debunk some of the common myths associated with this historically significant holiday and teaches the readers about the Wapanoag people and the group of English settlers that had survived a year in their new, harsh land in 1621.