Thanksgiving Project: Making a Cornucopia

THANKSGIVING PROJECT:

MAKING A CORNUCOPIA

This is our third and final project that will deal with the topic of Thanksgiving.

In this project you and your children will learn exactly what a cornucopia is and how to make one.

The Cornucopia is the most common synbol of a harvest festival. It is also known as "The Horn of Plenty."The cornucopia starts out as a "horn" shaped container and is fille with the abundance of the harvest.

In the days of farming and a time when holidays weren't so commercialized, families used dried fruits, veggies and the"Horn of Plenty" as decorations for Thanksgiving. The cornucopia also may have contained some leftover grains and seeds.

The cornucopia was usually hung over a doorway for good luck. This was a symbol that the harvest was in and " all is well."

Common fruitsand veggies seen in a cornucopia

a) Apples

b) Corn

c) Grapes

d) Bannanas

e) Oranges

f) Any fruit or veggie that your child likes

Project Options: This project can be finished by cutting out construction paper cutouts of fruits and vegetables or actually having the children cut out the fruits and vegetables that they like from magazines.

This is up to you and a combination of both may be used.

Step 1: Draw a "horn" on a brown peice of paper or recycle a paper bag.

Step 2: Cut out the "horn" and glue it onto a black piece of paper. Any color may be used but black is very

dramatic.

Step 3: Draw out a fruit or veggie onto a colored paper (or draw it on white paper and color it in).

Step 4: Cut out the fruit or veggie and glue it on.

Step 5: Repeat step 3 and 4 as many times as it takes to complete the project.

Step 6: When the project is completed step back and admire your group project.

Hang it up in your doorway for good luck and let everyone know that this years harvest was good.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!!!

Native American Clothing Doll

This is our second project paying homage to the Native American Indians who helped the Pilgrims survive those harsh winters after their landing in 1620

                                                           

Project: Thanksgiving: Native American Clothing Doll

Materials: Pencils, markers or crayons, scissors, construction paper, colored paper (construction) or felt.

This project will enable us as a family to further investigate the importance of the Native American Culture to the survival of the Pilgrims in the early 1620's.

Discussion Topics: Here are some topics that you may want to cover while working o the project.

     a) What was the difference between the Pilgrim clothing and Native American? (The Pilgrim's clothing was basically very light in nature and bland in color. They (the Pilgrims) believed in simplicity. While the Native American's "Everyday" clothing was simple, their ceromonial clothing was very colorful and detailed.

     b) Why was the Native American clothing more suited for the harsh winters?( The Natives used mostly Animal hides and they were much thicker than the weaved Pilgrim clothing. The Pilgrims were also just limited to the supplies they had brought with them, while the Natives planned well ahead for the cold winters.)

Helpful Vocabulary is located at the bottom of the page after the last step to the project.

Steps to creating the Native American Clothing Doll

( The examples I am using are very basic. This is done not to intimidate the child or parent.

However, feel free to add, take out or elaborate on any part of this project that you would like.)

Step 1: Take a regular white (or colored) sheet of paper and draw an outline of a person on it.

Step 2: Cut out the image

Step 3: Place a colored sheet of paper under the body for the shirt.

Step 4: Cut out the shirt and glue or tape it on to the figure outline.

Step 5: Place another color sheet of paper under the figure for the pants.

Step 6: Cut and glue the pants on and repeat these steps for the headdresses, Moccasins, Vests, etc. Keep in mind that this project can be as elaborate or basic as you want it to be.

Step 7: Here when I finished the clothing I added facial features.

Step 8: Here I added the "War Bonnet" and drew in a basic vest and moccasins.

Again, keep in mind that this project can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be.

Let your child's imagination run wild.

You might even want to print examples of the Native Americans in the clothing from the internet to show as examples.

Helpful Vocabulary:

1) Coonskin Cap: This is a basic "Davey Crockett" style cap that is made from the fur of a raccoon. The cap usually consists of the whole fur including the head and tail of the raccoon.

2) Buckskins: Is clothing that usually consists of a jacket and pants. These are traditionally made from Deer or elk hide. Buckskins are also traditionally fitted with "fringes" made from leftover hide pieces.

3) Moccasin: Is a soft shoe usually made of deerskin or other soft hides (leather).

4) War Bonnet: was a feathered headdress believed to carry special magical charms to the wearer during battle.

Thanksgiving: Native American Totem Pole

Project: Thanksgiving: Native American Totem Pole.
Materials needed: pencils, crayons, colored construction paper, brown construction paper, scissors, stapler or glue.

Would there be a Thanksgiving celebration without the willingness of the Native Americans to help the Pilgrims? My guess would be probably not. I feel that without the Native Americans running interference between life and utter destruction among the Pilgrims they (the Pilgrims) would have been forced to move back to England or to assimilate into the Indian culture.

This project enables us as a family to not only understand an important part of the Native American culture but also gives us the opportunity to discuss with our children the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

History of the Totem Pole:
Totem poles were common among the Northwest Coastal Indian Tribes and carved out of giant cedar trees. Smaller versions of Totem Poles were found among other tribes across the American continent.
A Totem Pole was used to pass on stories or important events to future generations of Indians like a book.
The Totem Pole was also used to tell the history of a family and was very important to the Native American culture.
The figures on the Totem Poles are symbols used to tell the story. These symbols were usually of animals and represented the key players in the story.

Relevance to the project: Have your child create a Totem Pole that tells "their story". Cut and paste on images to the Totem Pole that reflects the things your child likes (ex. a baseball, pizza). Or use an animal symbol to help tell their story (ex. eagle for speed, wisdom strength ). Create a Totem Pole for yourself while you are working with your child.

PROJECT STEPS:

                                                              

step 1

Step 1

1) Take one piece of brown construction paper and roll the paper into a tube. It could either be rolled the length or width of the paper. Use the stapler to keep the roll together becasuse the glue will take to long to dry.   

                      Step 2

2)  Draw and then cut out the symbols or shapes that are going to be used to tell the "story".

                    Step 3 

3) Glue the shapes, symbols onto the totem pole.

                     Step 4

4) You are finished now clean up the mess.

5) Stand back and admire your artwork with the family. Use this time to openly praise the projects and to summerize the idea behind th Thanksgiving Totem pole project.