Favorite Thanksgiving Read Alouds

Since we’ve been reading and learning about the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving, we’ve come across some books that we’ve really enjoyed and have made some of them our own because they are ones we will read every year in years to come. I love books like that!

Here’s my list, in no particular order…

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by B. G. Hennessy

Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness

Off to Plymouth Rock by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh

Squanto and the First Thanksgiving by Joyce K. Kessel

Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac

The Plymouth Thanksgiving by Leonard Weisgard

Individually, these books are great. Together, they bring the story of Thanksgiving to life. It’s not all about the turkey, stuffing, and pernil. It’s also about the reasons why the Pilgrims left England and took the incredibly difficult journey to a foreign land and what lead up to their three-day celebration of thanks to God.

I know my perspective on Thanksgiving dinner is going to be a little different this year. Do you have any tried and true favorites for this time of year? Please share! I'm always looking out for new ones to add to our library!

Podcasts Your Kids (and you) Will Love

Me: "What is that? A show?"
Husband: "Kinda. It's a podcast."
Me: "What the heck is a podcast?"

This was a very real conversation my husband and I had about a year ago. Now that I know what they are I have to share them with you! Podcasts are awesome! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, girl, Igotchu!

To put it simply, podcasts are audio episodes. You can play them from a free app like Sticher, iTunes, The Podcast App, Overcast, or Podbean. You can also use Spotify if you have an account.

Podcasts are a great way to add a little extra fun learning while on the way to soccer practice or grocery store, or on a road trip. They're interesting and engaging, both you and your kiddos will love listening to them.

For kids ages 3 and older

Story Pirates

We love the Story Pirates!! The Pirates encourage kids of all ages to get creative and write stories to send into them aboard their ship. Then they get together to perform these original stories. We haven't missed an episode since we've begun listening and we're waiting with great anticipation for the new season.

Circle Round

Circle Round brings us fairy tales and folktales from around the world performed by actors, some you may know from your favorite TV shows. On their site, there are original coloring pages to go along with the episodes so your kiddos can keep their hands busy while they listen.

Jesus is Better

This is the only Christian podcast for kids I have come across that we enjoy immensely. Alisha Yoder reads straight from the Bible and talks about the passage in a way children can understand. Each episode is short, about 20 mins or less. You can hear her love for the Lord and her passion for sharing it in every episode.

Little Stories for Tiny People

Rhea's original stories are always entertaining. She is a great storyteller and brings her tales of forest friends to life. She always has a guest or two visit her at the studio, which s always a treat. My kiddos squealed with delight when they were featured on one of her episodes. We can't wait for her first picture book to come out!

Noodle Loaf

My girls are sad when Noodle Loaf ends. The episodes are too short for them lol! In a very short amount of time, your kiddos are entertained with a highly interactive episode. My girls sing, dance and even draw.

For kids 7 and older

In addition to the ones above:

WOW in the World
Mindy and Guy Raz are your hilarious hosts on this science podcast for kids. Your kiddos will laugh along as they travel with Mindy, Guy, and Reggie (their pet pidgeon) and learn about space, the weather, and dinosaurs. We have at times taken to the internet to research a topic because we couldn't believe it to be true (of course, it was). *They do take an Evolutionary perspective of science. I'm always listening with my girls so I can filter the info through a Creationist perspective.*

Tumble

Tumble is another great science podcast for kids. Loads of different topics are covered from space, volcanoes and dino poop! Tumble always brings on a scientist on the topic so they can share their expertise with your kiddos. We have learned some cool stuff about the world around us that has caused us to do our own research!

Earth Rangers

This podcast is fairly new to us and it's already a favorite. Earth Ranger Emma takes us all over the world to learn about animals in their natural habitats. You can also join Emma by becoming an Earth Ranger yourself and help protect the environment with her.

But Why

But Why? is a unique podcast in that it's listeners, your kiddos, are the ones who come up with the episodes. If you have a curious child, they can send in their questions to But Why? and they will try to answer those questions for you. Questions that have been answered in the past include "why is milk white?", "why do we need to sleep?" and "why is tape sticky?". One of my girls still talks about the "Why do we need sleep?" episode and asks for fish to eat because it will help her sleep lol. 

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

Finn Caspian is what I would call a novela, just like the ones my grandmother watches. You have to start at the beginning or the story won't make much sense. These sci-fi episodes are loaded with adventure and mayhem, perfect for everyone in the family to enjoy.

For kids 10 and older

These you may want to preview first before you have your little ones listening to it. They're still great for kids, but little ones may find it difficult to follow the episode. Also, the main characters are older and in middle school.

Becoming Mother Nature

Becoming Mother Nature is a brand new podcast just out this September. My daughter (8) and I listened to the first episode together and we were hooked! The sound effects, music, and performers are on point. So much so I had to show my daughter that there really wasn't a video playing, it was just audio! We will definitely follow along with Chole and her grandmother as the story unfolds.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

Mars Patel is a great podcast for middle-grade kids and is one you have to start at season 1, episode 1 in order for it to make sense. The mystery and suspense might be too intense for young listeners, so use your judgment. This one is definitely one I will share with my kiddos in a couple of years. I may just listen to it myself before then it's that good.

Mayan Crystal

My daughter (8) and I binged the first 4 episodes of The Mayan Crystal. You'll find adventure, mystery and girl power! I was especially excited to discover this podcast is set in the Central American country of Belize and full of ancient Mayan and contemporary culture. I love the diversity this podcast brings to the podcast-table.

Is there a favorite of yours, or your children's I've missed? Please share it! I'm always on the lookout for an exciting podcast. What new podcast would your kiddos like to listen to next?

Happy listening!

Mini Pumpkin Unit

Two of the things I look forward to when we stay up North are apple picking and pumpkin picking. 

It’s just not the same back home in Florida. #sorrynotsorry

Here, we go into the patch where the pumpkins have grown and pull them off the vine ourselves. There’re not in pretty little rows all cleaned up for us. We get to see blossoms and little green pumpkins just starting out. We go on a hunt for the best pumpkins, making sure we don’t trip over the vines and get our hands dirty. It’s all part of the fun!! 

If you haven’t experienced this, take a trip one year. It’s totally worth it.

Prior to our pumpkin picking day (say that 3 times fast) I took out some books from the library. Some are fictional stories and some are about the life cycle of a pumpkin, but all are fun. Here were our picks this year:

Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night by Anne Rockwell

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Pumpkins by ken robbins

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Pumpkin Day by Candice Ranson

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

We had a ton of fun at the pumpkin patch. Besides filling our wheel barrel with pumpkins, we went through a corn maze, had a tractor ride around the field, ate apple fritters and enjoyed feeding and petting goats, a calf, and chickens. When we got home we decorated our house inside and out with our pumpkins. I also got some beautiful Indian corn. It's amazing all the colors they come in! Our favorite are the purple ones, of course.

Mini Unit

Now here is where a family fun day doubles as a “school field trip”. The next day we enjoyed a notebooking activity for our nature journals.

Drawing on their experience from our trip, the books we read, and some extra research my girls were able to fill out this Pumpkin Investigation flip book printable. It really helped them pull together everything they learned about pumpkins.

You can also head over to Handbook of Nature Study for more idea including a notebook page if that strikes your fancy.

For some added fun we created a craft to decorate our classroom.  There are so many choices out there you may have trouble settling on one. While we were crafting our pumpkins the girls spontaneously told me about its parts. Score!

Combining home and school is simple and easy to do. You don’t have to create a huge lesson for everything. All you need is a library card and some art supplies. Simply talking about pumpkins (or trees, birds, volcanoes, etc. ) with your children opens up their world to learn new things. You create great memories in the process, too.