Exploring cornucopias

Holidays present a wonderful opportunity to expose our children to new ideas and vocabulary

We recently explored a new word with our children as it relates to our up and coming Thanksgiving feast.  That word was cornucopia…

Introducing New Vocabulary

With our Thanksgiving feast fast approaching, we wanted to explore the many different types of foods that are served at a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  The word cornucopia isn’t a word that we use very often.  It is a word that was unfamiliar to most of our children.  A cornucopia is also sometimes referred to as a “horn of plenty” and is a traditional Thanksgiving symbol…

Exploring Fruits and Vegetables

On our large tray, we spread out many different types of play fruits and vegetables.  We also set out paper bags to use as our cornucopias.  The children pointed out some of their favorite fruits and vegetables and we discussed some that may have been unfamiliar to them like egg plant…

Filling their Cornucopias

We then invited the children to fill their horns of plenty with all of the fruits and vegetables that they would like to eat at their Thanksgiving feast…

The children grabbed a bag and began filling their cornucopias to the brim…

This activity gave the children a chance to explore lots of new words and they were eager to tell us all about the contents of their cornucopias…

Learning through Play

The play with our pretend fruits and vegetables continued all throughout the week as the children went to the grocery store…

Building Literacy with Books

We also found several books that talked about the kinds of foods people often eat at their Thanksgiving feasts including this fun book titled “One is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale” by Judy Cox. This book is about a mouse who went off to gather as many left-overs as he could carry from the family table to enjoy a feast for a mouse…

The little mouse in our book tried to balance as many things from the Thanksgiving feast table as he could. He balanced things up high but soon it all came tumbling down to the floor and in the end, he was left with one little pea which was exactly just the right amount for a feast for one…

Retelling the Story

We used our pretend food to retell the story of the little mouse as we worked together to balance the food from our cornucopias on a plate just like the mouse did…

Working Together and Having fun!

Keeping all that food from falling off the plate as we walked across the room was a very big challenge.  Perhaps, just like the mouse, we don’t need quite so much food for a feast after all!

Available on Amazon

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

Subscribe to My Newsletter

Latest Blog Posts

P is for Pizza!

While learning about the letter “P” we decided to explore with pizza! Pizza is an all-time favorite food for many preschoolers, and activities involving pizza

Read More »