To learn about the origin of Thanksgiving, my son and I read several books and made a lapbook. In order to make sure he understood what he read, I had him narrate the stories back to me. We are very thankful to Jimmie who created a website or a lens on how to put a Thanksgiving lapbook together. We got all of our Thanksgiving crafts from her site.

Here is Matthew holding his lapbook.

We kept the lapbook really simple this time. On the top is a mini book that reads “I am Thankful For. . . . ” To the right is a corn he made by gluing kernels onto a cardstock that’s shaped like a corn. The kernels are taken from the actual corn we picked from Ardenwood Farm we visited in October. The middle bottom contains a mini-book that tells a simplified story of the origin of Thanksgiving from the pilgrims arriving to America to celebrating the first Thanksgiving. To the left and right of the mini book are two pockets that contain an Indian and Pilgrims jigsaw puzzle.

This is a turkey pop-up book. I had my son write things that he’s thankful for on the turkey’s feathers.

Close-up view of the Thanksgiving mini-book and the puzzle.