Thanksgiving Thankful Turkey

I want Gabriella to understand and celebrate Thanksgiving like a true American, but unfortunately we don't get the days off and there won't be any cool art projects she gets to do in school... so I took it upon myself to find an activity that we can do together. I wanted it to be both fun and educational, so we made a "Thankful Turkey." Gabby was quite helpful! She painted, traced feathers, and pasted and cut-out the feathers (with some help from me). You can't really see, but on the each feather it says, "I am thanful for..." We talked about what we are thankful for, what does "thanks" mean, and why it's important to acknowledge this... Quite a challenging concept for an ego-centric 3 year-old to grasp, but I tried... When I referred to giving thanks as, "what makes you happy," she seemed to get it.

What we are thankful for: Family, Friends, Emily (Gabby's best friend), Health, Security (our jobs), Franny and Grandpa, Grammy and Papa, Mommy/Daddy/Gabriella, Chen Ayi, and the Celiac Support Group,  and the New Baby Brother/Sister

A couple of years ago I bought the DVD "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," which includes the story about the Mayflower Compact, pilgrims, and Native Americans so we'll show her that too and talk about it.