Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we’re here to help you celebrate the season with curated, fall-themed educational activities. Everything on our list is fun for the whole family and easy to do right from your home or your backyard.
Raise the curtain on theater night
The challenges of this year might mean that your child can’t participate in school plays or drama class—so bring the theater to them with fall-inspired at-home productions that encourage the whole family to get acting! Design your own set with pumpkins or leftover Halloween decorations. And of course, don’t hold back on the costumes. It’s the perfect excuse to bring out your inner thespian!
Play a festive matching game
Make the most of simple art supplies and a stock photo website like Shutterstock to create the perfect autumn-themed matching activity for your young learner! First, head to the computer and print out two copies of up to 10 pieces of fall imagery such as a cornucopia or a Thanksgiving turkey. Next, print two copies of 10 pieces of non-fall imagery.
Then, have your child carefully cut out the printed items and glue them to a poster board in a random order. After they’ve adhered the images, have them determine which relate to fall. Once they’ve made their decisions, tell them to draw lines between the fall-themed pairs!
Create a fall scrapbook
It’s time to get outside and snap some shots of the fall landscape! Ahead of your adventure, make a list of items from nature that you’d like your child to put into a scrapbook. Then, head out to the backyard or on a walk around the neighborhood with a camera or phone handy for taking pictures.
Begin by playing “I Spy”—for instance, if you included a pumpkin on your list, describe it without saying its name so they can guess what it is (“I spy something round and orange…”). Once they’ve guessed correctly, take a picture of the item. When you’ve crossed off all the items from your list, head home, print the photos, and help your child create a fall-themed scrapbook that they can enjoy every year.
Design a scavenger hunt using autumn leaves
It’s time for a fun scavenger hunt! Teach your child parts of speech by gathering autumn leaves and writing examples of words on them that fall into the categories of noun, verb, and adjective. Hide the leaves around the house or in the backyard, and challenge your young learner to find them and categorize them. Try incorporating fall-themed words such as “stuffing” or “autumnal.”
Fall for these seasonal word problems
From questions centered around carving pumpkins to traversing corn mazes, challenge your child with math word problems perfect for the season. These exercises help their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills while the themes keep them engaged and excited about the time of year.
Navigate a pumpkin patch maze
This easy, fall-themed maze activity will test your child’s puzzling skills. Give them the opportunity to work their way through the maze during your Thanksgiving road trip or while they’re waiting for you to finish cooking this year’s feast.
No matter what your fall and Thanksgiving celebration looks like this year, rest assured that Education.com has a myriad of resources for a fall full of learning and fun. Check out all of our activities and worksheets here!
