A few weeks ago, I read A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to C and M.  In the book, Charlie Brown (accidentally) has all of his friends over for Thanksgiving lunch.  Of course, C wanted to invite all of his friends over for Thanksgiving lunch, so the kids got to choose a few friends to have over today.

We sent out Evites, then began planning our lunch.  We decided to make our lunch like the first Thanksgiving, and I was surprised, upon looking further into it, that the first Thanksgiving was really nothing like the Thanksgiving we celebrate today!

Here is some information about our lunch today.

When the kids got here, they decorated vests that I had cut out of paper grocery bags.  You just cut up the middle of the bag, cutting a hole in the bottom of the bag for the head, then turn the bag inside out so the writing is on the inside, then add arm holes on each side for their arms. Then the kids colored their vests.  Here’s Charlie modeling for you!!

The kids also made headdresses using construction paper, feathers, and tape.  We dug out the Halloween makeup to paint their faces.

Maddie, of course, had to be an Indian princess!

The kids sat on the floor to have their lunch, just like the pilgrims and Indians sat on the ground, or on a stump.

And our lunch was really strange, but simple!  We had fish sticks, rice pudding, carrots, and plain cranberries (like the first Thanksgiving), plus some pizza (which the pilgrims did not have:)).

While the kids were eating, I gave them a little info about the first Thanksgiving.  It was really interesting to learn that they actually ate eel, cabbage, carrots, and spice pudding.  There was no sugar (so no pumpkin pie or cranberry salad), and possibly no turkey at the first Thanksgiving!

This was a really fun day for us, and required very little preparation or work on my end. It would be good for a group of kids, or a fun lunch for you and your kids one day before Thanksgiving.  And who doesn’t love fish sticks?

If you do decide to do it, you should check out Scholastic’s website  or Mother Hubbard’s website for some great information on the first Thanksgiving!