Thanksgiving Retelling Story Bead Necklaces

Every year before Thanksgiving we make necklaces using colored beads that help tell the story of the very first Thanksgiving.  Each colored bead represents a piece of history leading up to the first Thanksgiving.  

Earlier today I gave Eve a bowl of beads and a blunt needle to use to thread the beads onto yarn.  Eve did an amazing job finding the colored beads, counting them, sequencing the events and threading the story beads onto the yarn.  As Eve was working we talked in detail about the Pilgrims, Native Americans and what it means to be thankful.      

 

Here is what each colored bead represents:

• 1 tan bead to represent the Pilgrims leaving England in the year 1620
• 1 white bead to represent the white sails on the Mayflower
• 3 blue beads to represent the 66 days it took for the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic Ocean
• 1 green bead to represent when Pilgrims spotted land, which they later named Plymouth
• 3 white beads to represent the first cold and long winter that the Pilgrims endured 
• 1 green bead to represent the arrival of spring
• 1 tan bead to represent the Native American named Squanto who greatly helped the Pilgrims plant, grow and find food
• A red, yellow, orange and tan bead to represent the foods at the first Thanksgiving (cranberries, corn, squash, pumpkins and turkey).  The first Thanksgiving was a great feast, which lasted three days!  

Here are some pictures of Eve working so hard to making her Thanksgiving necklaces...