Thanksgiving Homeschool Activities + Unit Studies

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and you may be looking for homeschool activities and unit studies for the season. It’s a great idea to change things up around the holidays, so we’ll give you some great inspiration to get you started. Plus, make sure you scroll all the way down to the bottom of this post. I’ve joined forces with over two dozen of my homeschool blogging friends for their best tips, activities, and Thanksgiving unit studies that you can try in your homeschool this year.

My posts contain affiliate links.

Contents hide

5 Virtual Field Trips

6 Music

7 Family History

8 Unit Studies

9 Thanksgiving Ideas Round-Up

Read Alouds

No matter the age of your kids, one great activity to include in your seasonal homeschool flow are read alouds. This is a great time of year to slow down and enjoy a book together, especially if you don’t normally include read alouds regularly. Of course, young children love read alouds. But have you tried it with your teens? It makes for great family time and you don’t have to read a Thanksgiving-themed book at all. Think out of the box, especially for your teens. Is there a particular historical time they enjoy learning about? Go ahead and find a historical biography or historical fiction based in that period. Or maybe your kids are into fantasy. Dive into some great classics and enjoy the change of pace.

If you want to include more picture books in your homeschool, but don’t know where to start, check out Rabbit Trails curriculum.

Cooking and Baking

When we think of Thanksgiving, we likely think of food! So go with the natural flow of the season and include cooking and baking into your homeschool routine. Teach your kids how to make family favorites. Talk about the history behind our Thanksgiving meal. Let them help you prepare for the big day and decorate the table.

And speaking of Thanksgiving decor, you can download some cute Thanksgiving prints from our resource library. You could print them and use as Thanksgiving table place cards and write each person’s name on their card. Or have each person at your table write down their blessings, date it, and pull them out next year to read!

Nature Walk

The fall season provides a changing landscape in many places in the United States and Canada.

Take a page out of the classic fall school project and create a leaf collection with your kids! It’s a great season to collect colorful leaves. Press them between books and make a gorgeous fall learning scrapbook. Label the leaves and grab some tree identification books from the library to take on your walks.

Art Projects

If you normally skip art projects in your homeschool, then the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons provide a great excuse to slow down a bit and make time for new activities.

Our very favorite art project source is Deep Space Sparkle. Her projects are very easy to follow and make even non-artsy kids and adults feel very accomplished!

You can search her art projects by subject, grade level, or technique.

Here are some additional art resources and curriculum to check out:

Virtual Field Trips

You can even take some virtual field trips without leaving home, of course! Travel the world and learn about new places via virtual field trip links, or your geography-loving kids might love some Google Earth exploration time. One of my kids spent hours on Google Earth touring famous cities and landmarks in his free time. The slower days around the Thanksgiving holiday make this an ideal time to pursue some of these fun field trips.

Music

Some of you might be regularly including music appreciation or lessons into your homeschooling routine, but some of you aren’t. And that’s okay! But take advantage of the change of seasons and slower pace around the holidays to include some musical learning in your homeschool.

Here are some resources to get you started:

Family History

The holidays provide a fabulous opportunity to dive into family history. What’s the background of your grandparents and great-grandparents? What historical events did they live through? Are there family stories you can research? Where did they live? Where did they work? Can you bring out the family photo albums and old videos? Maybe your kids would love to create a family tree. Every family has some amazing stories to tell. And every family has many things to be thankful for – this is a great season to pass on these family history treasures to your kids.

Unit Studies

Unit studies are short, focused lessons on specific topics. They usually encompass various subject and content areas. My favorite go-to source for unique and thorough unit studies is UnitStudy.com

Here are some additional unit study resources to check out:

Thanksgiving Ideas Round-Up

It’s hard to believe the holiday season is upon us. In just a few weeks, we will celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday here in America. In the meantime, there is quite a bit of learning to be done!

This week, I’m teaming up with some of my fellow homeschool bloggers to bring you some fantastic Thanksgiving themed tips and resources. Be sure to check them all out below!