Thanksgiving with Kids: Two Great Holiday Books

It's almost Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. I also like to think of it as a holiday with a feminist bent, even if that seems a bit of a stretch. However, it's not that far-fetched.

In fact, it was thanks to Sarah Hale that Thanksgiving ever became a national holiday to begin with. It took her 38 years to make this happen, with the first "official" Thanksgiving taking place in 1863. To share this fascinating story with your kids, read Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving written by Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrated by Matt Faulkner (Simon & Schuster, 2002). The book is $17.99 hardcover and $6.00 paperback, and is recommended for ages 5 to 10.

I'm also a big fan of  the classic Thanksgiving children's book Over the River and Through the Wood: The New England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day.

It's a great read for kids ages 4-9 who will enjoy seeing how things once were - they're taking a horse and carriage ride to Thanksgiving dinner, that's so cool!  Even better given for our feminist theme, there are historical notes at the end of the book that tell more about the author's commitment to issues surrounding women's rights. You can also read a biography of Lydia Maria Child here, which goes into more detail about her life, and her activism on issues related both to women and Native Americans.

For even more about the fascinating connection between the suffragette movement and Thanksgiving, read this post from last year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Thanksgiving and Suffrage: because isn't Thanksgiving the perfect time to talk about history?

A couple years back I posted one of my most favorite suffragette postcards in celebration of Thanksgiving.

It turns out to be actually an anti-suffrage postcard, but still, I dig it.

In case my photograph makes it difficult to read the text is: "This is not a suffragette lecture, but a kind Greeting."

The postcard is a response to a historical event in which "Chicago-area women’s rights advocates {were} pushing back the time they served Thanksgiving dinner in order to go see the British suffragist Emiline* Pankhurst," who was giving a lecture.

So see everyone, arguing over the sanctity of Thanksgiving Day - whether it is to go see a famous suffragette or to shop for cheap electronics - is as American as the Thanksgiving holiday itself.

As someone who every year tries to share with her family a brief but important speech about our unsung pilgrim sisters, I'd like to think I would have my family wait a little on dinner in the name of suffrage - a sentiment I don't share for those in pursuit of cheap electronics.

What do you think about listening to lectures on Thanksgiving Day? And what about shopping?

However you spend it, and whatever time you serve your dinner, Happy Thanksgiving!

PS And I almost forgot, did you know that the author of the famous Thanksgiving poem Through the Wood was also a suffragist? Could Thanksgiving get any more feminist?!

It's Thanksgivukah!

Full cooking preparations are ON at the Random Handprints household as I prepare both Hanukkah dinner for tonight and a Thanksgivukah meal for tomorrow.

Luckily, my littlest decided he didn't feel well enough (read: feel like going) to school this morning, so I have an extra helper at home. Yay!

Even more luckily, my mom is in charge of dessert so that's one thing I can check off the to do list.

 Unluckily, those cookies make me feel a little bit of pressure to have the dinner live up to the dessert.

 

I'm also done with all my Thanksgivukkah and Hanukkah gift wrapping. If you're looking for some inspiration I'm sharing at BaristaKids.com my ideas for 5 Fun Ways to Wrap and Give Hanukkah Gifts.

 

 

 

Now, off to make my brisket stuffed turkey, challah stuffing, cranberry filled doughnuts, and pumpkin and gefilite fish appetizer!*

 

* Note: If you are coming to my house, don't be surprised, I'm not actually making any of that - I just like the idea of making all of that.

Thanksgiving Crafts and an itty-bitty plug for a great Suffragist

As regular readers know, the Random Handprints household is full of Thanksgivukkah cheer this holiday season, as shown in many ways including the creation of roughly 2,063 handprint menurkeys.

However, if your household is celebrating "just" Thanksgiving this year, don't worry - I have craft ideas for that, too!

Here are two easy and fun crafts that kids will love!

The Tee Pee Centerpiece:

and the Handprint Turkey Place Card:

Head over to New Jersey Family for the full directions for both at Thanksgiving Arts and Crafts.

And also, if your looking for a great Thanksgiving book to read with the kids, I love this new edition of the classic poem Over the River and Through the Wood: The New England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day.

In addition to the poem, which despite being from old-timey times my kids ages 4-9 all loved, there are some historical notes at the end which made me love it all the more once I heard the backstory.

To learn more about the author Lydia Maria Child, click here - and then tell me that's not a person we should be discussing over the Thanksgiving meal!

And for a review of Over the River and Through the Wood as well as two other wonderful books for the holidays, check out 3 Great Holiday Books at New Jersey Family.

Two Easy Ways to Make a Thankgivukkah Menurkey

My kids and I have been amusing ourselves to no end decorating for our Thanksgivukkah celebration next Thursday. Turkeys spinning dreidels, menorahs made out of pilgrim hats, we could go on and on - speaking of which, we have totally got to put a pilgrim hat on a dreidel.

We've also made endless menurkeys - those are turkey menorahs for those of you living under a (Plymouth) rock.

I present:

Menurkey #1: Styled by my 9-year-old. All you need to make this yourself is markers and the ability to trace your own hands.

Menurkey #2: Styled by my 8-year-old. This menurkey is currently on Barista Kids, so head over for the full directions.

If you have a menurkey craft, please leave a link in the comments!

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

Instructions for my husband: Thanksgivukkah not only is real, it real-ly is once-in-a-lifetime

I did not make up Thanksgivukkah, which is the holiday that results from Thanksgiving Day and the first day of Hanukkah falling on the exact same day this year. Yes, you heard that right.... THE EXACT SAME DAY.

What are the chances? Well, apparently almost none. That's why it's never really happened before (maybe once, but there's some uncertainty of what day Thanksgiving was back in the Eighteen-hundred-and-something year that the overlap might have occurred in) and is really, never really going to happen again. EVER.

Again, let me repeat, I am not making this up, it is well documented on everything from Thanksgivukkah websites to Thanksgivukkah merchandise.

I also did not make up the fact that this Thanksgivukah is not happening again for 70,000-plus years. A bunch of nice Jewish nerds guys have done the math, and you know it's right because you don't need me to tell you that Jews are good with numbers.

Or do the math calculations yourself, Mr. Regional Math Team Champion 1986 (and '87). You'll see for your doubting self.

It is true that Hanukkah and Thanksgiving will overlap again, when the first night of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving Day in... 2070. And while I'd like to think that we will both be there to share pumpkin flavored latkes and jelly doughnuts shaped like turkeys, I'm just not sure it's a done deal.

So let's treat this Thanksgivukkah as the once-in-a-lifetime event for which it is, for real, really. If the unique chance to have a pairing of latkes and stuffing isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

PS If there are other doubters, don't believe me just read this. Or this.

This is my thirty-fifth instruction in my ongoing series Instructions for my Husband.

Follow along on Facebook on the Instructions to my Husband page where something stupid funny is always going on there.

It's Thanksgivukah!

Hanukkah is "early" this year, like so early the first day of Hanukkah is November 28, which also happens to be Thanksgiving.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that I'm pretty excited to be celebrating Thanksgivukah, not just because a Hanukkah/Thanksgiving hybrid is fun in-and-of-itself, but also because this holiday convergence doesn't happen again for practically forever.

So in honor of all the awesomeness that is Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and most importantly, Thanksgivukah, I'm going to post daily about this awesome holiday convergence.

And then for the rest of December I will wonder what to do with all my free time when everyone else is talking about Black Friday sales and last minute holiday shopping and where to buy the best ever angel for the Christmas tree.

But until then, long live Thanksgivukah!

Here's Manischewitz's contribution to the holiday with their Thanksgivukah Rap Battle Parody, it's pretty funny. (Unless your my husband, in which case it is "severely stupid and written by a talentless, thoughtless hack.")

 

Happy Thanksgivukah!

Wordless Wednesday: Kids Chillin' in Florida

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida visiting my Dad.

We had a great time, we were all happy to see Grandpa (and he, us of course), the warm weather was delightful, and we got to introduce the kids a lot of cool stuff in Florida - a trip to Miami, a visit to famous beaches, and grits and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast.

But I think one of their favorite memories will be of just chillin' in the big hammock.

Ah, to be a kid...

Thanksgiving Activities with Kids - Printables, Handprint Turkeys and More

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and if you're like me you're feeling a combo of happiness and fear over so much family togetherness. But don't worry, I've found tons of Thanksgiving fun to keep the kids on the delightufl side over the long weekend.

Printables are a great way to go, as someone else has already done the work to create these kid-amusements. You just need to click and print. Here are some that are big hits with my kids:

Thanksgiving word search in easy version or more difficult.

Mazes: kids can help a turkey escape to the woods.

Color-by-number Turkeys - here are two for younger kids (preschool through first grade).

And last, have fun with everyone participating in Thanksgiving MadLibs!

For turkey handprints and other Thanksgiving crafts, I've got a few projects here as well as even a few more ideas here from last year.

And this year, I've got great Thanksgiving Math suggestions.

And while I can't find a photo, in 2009 we made awesome Turkey Cupcakes. My kids still talk about it. Recipe from the Brown Eyed Baker if you want to make them, too. Just imagine mine just like that... if you found them on Craft Fail.

Happy Thanksgiving! What's your favorite way to spend the weekend? Football? Turkey trot? Pie-eating?

Thanksgiving Math Ideas

While usually my Thanksgiving posts focus on handprint turkeys, today I'm sharing some fun Thanksgiving math ideas from Jersey-based Bedtime Math.

1. Use cooking time to learn about fractions. Whether you’re making mashed potatoes or a pumpkin pie, cooking and baking are all about fractions – ½ cup of sugar, ¼ tsp of nutmeg, etc. Have your little ones help you prepare the Thanksgiving feast, and teach them about fractions in the process. Using water and measuring cups, have your children count out the number of ¼ cups that go into 1 cup.

2. Weigh the turkey. Take kids to the grocery store to pick out a turkey, and use it as an opportunity to introduce them to weight measurements. Show them a small turkey and see how much it weighs, then compare it to a much larger one. You can even make it a guessing game –whoever guesses the right weight wins. And, finally, make sure to find the right-sized turkey for your celebration!

3. Make setting the table fun by counting. Whether you’re hosting a big dinner party or just celebrating with a few close friends and family members, have your children help you set the table and practice counting while they’re doing it. Count the number of knives, forks, spoons, etc. that you’ll need for the table, and then count to see how many different pieces are used for each setting.

 

And of course, you can always encourage your kids to count their blessings. I sure will be counting mine this Thanksgiving.

What I'm Thinking About on Black Friday... and it's not about going shopping



Photo from Say No to Black Friday

Today is Black Friday. I'm not a big fan of crowds, or big box stores. So I won't be going shopping.

I'm also not a big fan of over-consumption, so even if I did like crowds and big box stores I wouldn't want to be part of the whole holiday buy! buy! buy! scene.

What will I be doing instead today?

• I will be thinking about the security guard who died a few years ago at Wal-Mart when shoppers trampled him on their way to buy! buy! buy!

• I will be thinking of all the people who had their Thanksgivings cut short because they had to go to work, as more and more stores decided to be open on Thanksgiving so people could buy! buy! buy!

• I will be thinking - as I do at this time every year - of Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, the young Chabad couple who were killed in the Mumbai Massacre on November 26, 2008, and who left behind an orphan son, who was not even two.

And why do I think of Gabi and Rivkah Holtzberg every year? It is not just for remembrance - it is for inspiration. There are many stories of the couples' incredible kindnesses, there are over 12,000 mitvahs (good deeds) that have been performed in their memory, and perhaps most moving, photo after photo of babies named after the slain couple.

Is it a surprise that reflecting on a life lived with such a sense of purpose would be more inspiring to me than the thought of a really great Black Friday bargain?

Not really.

And so, this Black Friday I'll leave the deals to anyone who wants them. As for me, I'll happily be one of the people participaing in Buy Nothing Day.

Happy Thanksgiving - Suffragette Style

One of my side hobbies is collecting (or hoarding as the case may be - your words not mine), and one of my collections is suffragette postcards.

Nothing makes me happier than when a holiday comes around that is celebrated in suffrage postcards, as thankfully Thanksgiving is.

Here are one of my favorite Thanksgiving suffragette postcards:

In case my photograph makes it impossible to read the text is: "This is not a suffragette lecture, but a kind Greeting."

This text always puzzled me, but yesterday a search with Lady Google's help revealed The Society Pages: Social Science that Matters and the information that in 1909 "Chicago-area women’s rights advocates {were} pushing back the time they served Thanksgiving dinner in order to go see the British suffragist Emiline* Pankhurst," who was giving a lecture.

Now I'm wondering if this postcard that I proudly display in my pro-suffrage collection, actually need to be moved to the binder with the anti-suffrage cards? I think so.

So what does this all mean besides that I love collecting suffragette postcards and I love Thanksgiving?

I'm not really sure...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving Preview II: Meyer Lemons and a Lemon Tart

Images received via an email from my mother.

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Tart recipe via Emeril Lagasse and The Food Network.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Preview: Corn Sticks

Image via email from my mom.

Corn sticks recipe from Country Living.

Three Great Things to Do in New York City Over Thanksgiving Weekend

I love New York City all year round, but Thanksgiving weekend is one of my favorite times. Not only does it begin the holiday season with all its lights and splendor, but our family has a few annual traditions we try to fit in every year over Thanksgiving weekend. Here are three of our family favorites:

• Macy's Day Parade - this legendary spectacle is a wonder to behold in person, but not too bad either when viewed on the television from the comfort of home with a mulled cider and the scent of turkey roasting. When we were still Upper West Siders, we always made sure to take a stroll by the balloons being inflated the night before, one of my most enduring memories of being a Manhattanite.

• American Museum of Natural History - we visit this kid-friendly museum frequently in all seasons, but I never miss a holiday trip to see the amazing Origami Holiday Tree (on display November 21 through January 2).

Other special exhibits currently on display are The World's Largest Dinosaurs and The Butterfly Conservatory, both incredible experiences for kids of all ages.

• Big Apple Circus - This has been a favorite holiday destination since our oldest was little, and I was delighted to see the Dream Big! show this year with all three kids (2, 6 & 7) who were all enthralled. My dog-obsessed toddler was loving the canine performances, while his older sisters couldn't get enough of the trapeze and magic acts. A truly magical experience, the big tent is up at Lincoln Center Plaza until January 8.

My kids, ready to join the circus!

So what's not on my list of recommended places to visit in Manhattan? All the places that have been commercialized and Dora-fied -  The Bronx Zoo and The Central Park Zoo, as well as the Children's Museum of Manhattan. And it's too bad, because in the day, those were once great New York institutions, too.  It would be nice if Nickelodeon would leave a few spots free of Dora-fication.

___________________________

My family and I were lucky enough to receive comped tickets to The World's Largest Dinosaurs exhibit and to the Big Apple Circus for purposes of review. Believe me, our opinions were not influenced. I was also offered tickets to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, which I (semi) politely declined.

Make or Bake a Handprint Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Photo from Real Simple

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about this, but most of my site traffic is from people looking for handprint crafts. (Actually, they're looking for hand print crafts, but I like writing handprint as one word instead of two.)

So, love it or hate it, I have embraced it.

I even made a slide show over at Kirtsy today of, you guessed it, handprint turkeys.

And there are lots more hand print turkey craft ideas here in a post I wrote for Thanksgiving last November.

So, however you are crafting or baking your handprint turkeys, enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Find the full list of handprint crafts here.

Being Thankful

This post is from 2008.

Our little clan had a tropical twist on Thanksgiving this year, with a non-oft vacation to celebrate in Puerto Rico.

On Thanksgiving, right before bed, after eating too much, sunning to much, and swimming way too much, I exclaimed"Hey! We should all say what we're thankful for!"

Mike and I said some boring platitude stuff, Kay added an inspiring "me too" and Magpie stole the show with: "I'm thankful for Hashem for this perfect little sister," and kissed Kay on the head.

Happy Thanksgiving.

What are you grateful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo courtesy of Gustafer Yellowgold.

Happy (Handprint) Turkey Day! Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts for November

A quick look at my Google stats revealed that a lot of people want to know how to make a Handprint Turkey, and that Google thinks a site called Random Handprints is going to help with that. However, until now, handprint art seeking folks were out of luck here. That is true no more!

Random Handprints can now serve all your turkey handprinting needs!

Here in all their glory is a round-up of the Best Turkey Handprint Crafts!  Enjoy these fun art projects and if you have a great one, please leave a comment so I can add it to the list:

• eHow tells you How to Make a Painted Turkey Shirt with Handprints.
• Amazing Moms shares their version of the Handprint Turkey Craft, using washable markers.
• Free Preschool Crafts has a Handprint Turkey with Feathers, and Katherine Marie Photography has a similar version called the Hand Gobbler using a trace-and-cut handprint instead of a painted one. A great option for the mess-adverse.
• For the over-achievers, there's Bella Dia's Handprint Turkey Softie. This turkey is adorable, but also involves a sewing machine and patience, neither of which I have.

And finally, for folks who are so beyond the whole Turkey Handprint thing, here's how to make a Hand AND FOOT Turkey Craft, and even a Handprint Mayflower.

If you are looking for even more ideas for Thanksgiving art projects, you'll find amazing ones at the The Crafty Crow, a children's craft collective.

And perhaps most importantly, you can find a list here of Fabric Paints that are Safe for Handprinting. 

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy Handprint Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo found online from Chico Valley Moms Stroller Strides Meet-up Group.