5-Day: Feeling Thankful

This week in 5-Day, we had a Thanksgiving theme. We talked about how Thanksgiving is a special holiday where family and friends gather together. Many people travel for large family gatherings and have a Thanksgiving feast. We started off our week learning a little bit about food and nutrition. It’s not easy getting kids to eat balanced meals sometimes. To teach them about nutrition and to encourage them to eat healthy foods, we did a food group sorting activity to learn about the five main food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, protein and dairy. We used a felt board divided into five parts and learned how to categorize them. The children learned that they should eat enough food from each group every day.

On a smaller board, we categorized the fats and sweets. We learned that we should eat the least amount of foods from this group. Cakes, chips, ice cream, and candies are “sometimes foods”. The children took this knowledge and used supermarket circulars to create a well-balanced meal paper plate craft. They cut out photos of foods that correspond to each of the food groups and then glued the pictures onto a paper plate. We hope this will encourage them to make healthy choices at home!

The children had lots of fun building with all the empty food boxes and containers in the block area. Buildings went up as fast as they came down. The boxes also made great garages. We also used the boxes and containers in the dramatic play center. This week the children enjoyed pretending to prepare and have a Thanksgiving meal. The scene was set with a Thanksgiving banner decorated by the children. The tables were adorned with Thanksgiving themed plates and napkins and a cornucopia centerpiece. Lots of healthy food choices were made. However, baking fresh cookies with our new cookie set was an all around favorite.

Although we had a fun time learning and playing with food, we talked about how Thanksgiving is not only about food. It’s also a time to be thankful for all that we have. We listened to a song called “Thanks a Lot" by Raffi. We read some books that showed us many different things all around us for which we can be thankful. We agreed with many of them. The children created a placemat with beautiful fall colors to take home. Each of them said what they were thankful for and their response was written on their mat.

Every year Bowen collaborates with St. John’s Church to put together three Thanksgiving baskets for families who would not have a meal otherwise. This week, we also took a little time to talk about these families and learn about the importance of helping others. We brainstormed how we could help them, and we all agreed that cooking a meal for them would fill their hearts with gratitude. We cooked green bean casserole and cornbread to be added to the baskets for the families in need. A Thanksgiving theme is always so fulfilling and helps foster feelings of gratitude in your children as well as an appreciation for people and things in their lives. They are so thankful for you!

Have a great weekend!

Caroline & Cathy

Some books we read this week:

What Food Is This?

Food for Thought

Happy Thanksgiving, Emily!

The THANKFUL Book

Thanks for Thanksgiving