Thanksgiving Sensory Bin – Squanto’s Journey

This was a fun hands on learning sensory bin. We did a Thanksgiving Sensory Bin that was similar last year. This year we paired it up with a different book. It is called Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving. This story is told from a Natives point of view. Because of some of the terms in the book we do use the word Indian. We also talked about the different tribes mentioned in the book.

This activity allows for the exploring or items in the bin and matching them up to the story as we read it. This is lots of talking and interaction for the story. You can do lots of simulated set up of that time and of what they are learning.

What you need for this activity: Coats & Clark Red Heart Classic Yarn: Tan, Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving, Powhatan Indians Toob, Safari Ltd. Jamestown Settlers Toob, small squash and bin.

They had a lot of fun exploring this fun bin. They all had different parts that they liked. First they explored the squash and corn. They sorted them out by color and type. Then compared different sizes and shapes.

They pulled the figures out and sorted them by Powhatan Indians Toob (we called Indian as in the way it was used in some of the Thanksgiving books) and Safari Ltd. Jamestown Settlers Toob (that we call Pilgrims).

The girls then made homes for each of the sets of toobs. The yarn became more logs and cabin walls and dirt outside. They had a lot of fun with this. If we had not had to get ready for the day they might have played for a while longer.

For the final activity we did with this sensory bin was to use parts of the bin to help tell the story of Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving. As we read each page we talked about the page and then picked out what we heard and read about in the book and put the items on the pictures.

Looking for other thanksgiving activities? Check out these:

Check out all the Thanksgiving Printables & Activities on 3 Dinosaurs.

Cassie – 3Dinosaurs.com

About Cassie

Cassie is a mom of three stomping, romping, and roaring girls. She blogs about fun art and craft activities and printables she makes. She includes the odd review of products every now and then. She also blogs about the places that she has taken the girls called trip reviews. She has a few free printable pack for kids ages 2 to 8 and always adding more. She loves to get comments and feedback and always looking for new things to try or do with her girls.

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