Thanksgiving Digital Resources

If you have ever watched daytime television, you know one tagline is “take a little time to enjoy the view.” With Thanksgiving squashed between the pumpkin spice of Halloween and the eggnog of Christmas, let’s take a little time to savor Thanksgiving with a cornucopia of tantalizing treats for your students at school, your teachers in the faculty workroom, or your family members on a Zoom call.

Thanksgiving Brackets and Randomizers

Thanksgiving Randomizer with 4 categories. On display are the principal, the last donut, Thanksgiving Day, and in a corn maze. — Screenshot by author.

Flippity takes a Google sheet and converts it into all kinds of useful things. You can make flashcards, PD certificates, and digital badges for students. In my opinion, the most fun Flippity tools are the quiz show, Tournament Bracket, and the new Flippity Randomizer.

If you are looking for a story starter or a creative writing prompt for students themed around school and Thanksgiving, then this who, what, when, and where randomizer can get the creative juices flowing. Check out the randomizer (above) I created for this holiday season.

You have heard of the NCAA brackets for March Madness. Now, with Flippity, you can design a bracket challenge for Thanksgiving. Check out the pre-made bracket I designed here for the holiday that you can play with your family or students. The bracket will determine the winner of – Which food could I do without on my Thanksgiving plate? Or you could flip this around and say, What food could I not live without on my Thanksgiving plate?

An example of the Thanksgiving bracket with pumpkin pie vs. cornbread, brussel sprouts vs. cranberry sauce, etc. — Screenshot by author.

Bingo

Thanks to my friend Janet Corder, who showed me how you can easily create online bingo games with Bingo Baker. There are tons of Thanksgiving games available. It’s free or you can pay $24.95 for a lifetime of additional features like unlimited bingo card printing/ online play, privacy control, unlimited image uploads, and a real-time game dashboard. Turkey points to Bingo Baker as you can either print cards or play online, have a call list provided online or printed, and have access to a five-step set of directions to get you started.

Here is what a Thanksgiving Bingo Game looks: bingobaker.com#3526934

The Wheel of Fortune Thanksgiving

An example of the wheel of names spinner with jumbled up thanksgiving words, such as eat, turkey, corn, etc. — Screenshot by author.

Try out an online wheel spinner for scrambled up spelling words or team up for the fastest scrambler in the west (or south, north or east) Try spinning the wheel in a Zoom or Meet video chat and see which student, family member, or school faculty can unscramble the word first and type the word correctly in the chat. Here is the one I created for you on the Wheel of Names website complete with autumn hues.

Gobble Gobble Digital Breakout

This one’s not only a fun challenge, but it’s filled with interesting facts about the holiday. Did you know Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, which he called “a respectable bird,” to be our national animal instead of the bald eagle? Or that Thanksgiving became a national holiday due, in large part, to one pioneering woman? Jump in, learn even more, and see if you can break out! Access the Gobble Gobble Breakout here.

Thanksgiving Jokes

Why did the elves ask the turkey to join the band?

Answer: Because he had the drumsticks!

Those wanting to bring in a little humor can check out these Turkey Jokes and Thanksgiving Jokes.

The Little Gobblers

For your pre-schoolers, check out the Little Bins, Little Hands website for fun Thanksgiving STEM activities and science experiments. There are 21 different activities, but just know the site is busy and has a bunch of ads. But my favorite activity here is the Coffee Filter Turkeys or the Magical Dancing Corn.

Fall Challenge Board

Erik Murray has been releasing Challenge Boards on a variety of topics: STEAM at Home, Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, ELA-LEGO, and Math-LEGO. And, of course, he has released a Fall LEGO Activities Board. Don’t worry; you can adjust activities to work without LEGOs or a robot.

A turkey playing a guitar with 5 trees in the background and clouds in the sky. — Screenshot by author.

No Naked Turkeys

If you have built an online Jack-O-Lantern with Eric Curts from Control Alt Achieve, check out my Dress Up a Turkey. It’s a fun way to be creative and learn how to use the arrange and rotate tool in Google Slides. Make a copy of the template here.

Can’t Stop a Parade

The 94th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be held this year, but with major changes. No spectators will be standing along the shortened parade route and no marching bands will perform. The parade is switching to a television-only presentation. No worry though as there will still be larger-than-life balloons, floats, and Santa Claus. Check out their website for details and parade history.

This is also a time when colonial America, Native Americans, and early American history can fit nicely into the curriculum. A ton of resources can be found here. If you would like to spice up your school day with virtual reality field trips for the fall season, this blog post is a must.

There are some great pixel art activities in Google Drawings available in this blog.

And as always, email Peggy at preimers@tcea.org and I will share activity lists, answers, and a Kahoot! bonus of tantalizing Thanksgiving trivia. Happy pumpkin spice, turkey gravy, and eggnog season!