Thanksgiving Harvest Storytime

Thanksgiving Day is practically here! 

It is one of my favorite holidays, because you can put as little or as much fuss into it, and either way, you will succeed! I also love the irony of pondering gratitude, then overindulging yourself into a food coma. It works for all ages, too. People in every stage of life enjoy gathering family and friends to eat a thoroughly thought-out meal. 

Baby A has had harvest food on the brain, too, lately, with repeat readings of To Market, To Market. My husband can't suspend his disbelief when it comes to a lady going to a market to purchase large, live animals, keeping them in her house, and then being surprised when they escape their pens. I buy in to it because it is charming, but I interpret it as a book about a woman who buys these animals, and despite the havoc they cause, she doesn't have the heart to cook them--so she makes soup and everybody is happy. I don't think it is actually intended to be plausible, nor vegetarian, necessarily, but in any case, it is fun! Baby A likes to say, "Uh-oh" at the appropriate parts in the book.

Here's a storytime perfect for Thanksgiving foodies:

Read: To Market, To Market, words by Anne Miranda (based on the nursery rhyme), pictures by Janet Stevens

Sing: Ask volunteers to hold various food toys, pictures, or real food in front of the group. Ask them to lift up the food, one by one, while singing to the tune of "Here We Are Together":

We're going to the market, the market, the market

We're going to the market to buy our food

Some [first food] and [second food] and [third food] and [fourth food]

We're going to the market to buy our food

This could be repeated with more foods, or by preparing the food (We're chopping up the carrots...).

Talk about: Thanksgiving foods, table manners

Sing: "Please and Thank You" (Shake maracas instead of or in addition to saying "cha cha cha" and replace some lyrics with lines such as If you'd like some mashed potatoes [cha cha cha] or a slice of pumpkin pie.)

Check out these lovely Thanksgiving book reviews.Would you like to peruse more Turkey Day reads?

And here's a list of Thanksgiving books that don't eat the turkey.

Do you have a kids' table? Check out these activity printables.

Happy Thanksgiving!