Making Thanksgiving Retelling Bead Necklaces

One of our favorite Thanksgiving activities from last year was making necklaces and bracelets using colored beads to tell the story of the very first Thanksgiving. Both Grace and Jack remembered making the necklaces and bracelets last year and they were both able to retell the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving too! Last week we made necklaces for everyone in our family to wear on Thanksgiving.

Each bead on the necklace represents a piece of the first Thanksgiving:

• 1 tan bead to represent the Pilgrims leaving England
• 1 white bead to represent the sails on the Mayflower
• 3 blue beads to represent the Pilgrims long trip across the ocean (66 days)
• 1 green bead to represent the Pilgrims spying land
  
• 3 white beads to represent the snow that the Pilgrims enduring during their first winter
• 1 green bead to represent the arrival of spring
• 1 tan bead to represent Squanto and the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims
• 4 colored beads to represent all of the harvest foods served at the very first Thanksgiving: red for cranberries, yellow for corn, tan for turkey and orange for squash and pumpkins

This year we discussed the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving in much more detail. A large part of Grace and Jack's pretend play over the past few weeks has been recreating the first Thanksgiving. Grace and Jack love taking turns being Pilgrims and Squanto!

Baby Eve was so excited to receive a beaded necklace from Grace and Jack. This will be Eve's first Thanksgiving and we are all so thankful for her!

Grace and Jack have their Thanksgiving necklaces hanging on the back of our dining room chairs. We will all be wearing them on Thursday while giving thanks for our many blessings.