Thanksgiving Contribution Challenge
This hands-on challenge guides learners to plan and create a meaningful contribution for their Thanksgiving celebration, fostering collaboration, gratitude, and practical skills. It encourages families to think about how they can actively participate in and enhance their holiday traditions.
Our goal: In this spark, your learner will plan a practical contribution to a family event, collaborate on a hands-on project with family members and express gratitude through actions and creations.
What You Need
Paper • Markers • Craft Glue • Natural Items • Scissors • Natural items (leaves, twigs)
and this is just the baseline.
Scan to jump into the app and easily personalize this Spark to match your child's exact learning level and see how Mai will guide this lesson.
Learning Guide
A simple guide to lead you through the kickoff, the core challenge, and everything in between.
Mai’s Tips
- For younger children, offer a limited choice of 2-3 simple project ideas to help narrow their focus during the 'Explore & Plan' stage.
- Instead of directly fixing mistakes during the activity, ask 'What do you think happened here?' or 'How else could we try this?' to foster problem-solving.
1Introduction 5 min
Introduce the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Ask the child to share their thoughts and excitement. Explain that "gratitude" means being thankful for the good things in your life, like family, food, or a warm home, and we show it by appreciating things or doing kind acts. "Contribution" means doing something to help make an event better.
Ask:
- "What makes Thanksgiving special for you?"
- "How do you usually contribute to the big day?"
- "What are you looking forward to most this Thanksgiving?"
Encourage all family members to share their initial ideas about what they're grateful for and how they might want to participate this year.
Done: The child has shared initial thoughts on Thanksgiving, gratitude, and ways to contribute.
Done when: Student engages in discussion about Thanksgiving and expresses initial ideas about contributing.
2Explore & Plan 8 min
Guide the family to brainstorm specific, practical ideas for a Thanksgiving contribution. Consider the child's age and abilities, suggesting a decoration, a helpful task, or a simple dish. Help them think about what household materials they already have available for their chosen idea. Encourage older children to help younger ones refine their suggestions into a practical concept.
Ask:
- "What kind of mark do you want to leave on Thanksgiving this year?"
- "What special dish, decoration, or helpful task could you create?"
- "What materials do we have around the house that we could use for that?"
- "How can we turn that idea into a simple plan?"
Done: A specific contribution project is chosen, and a rough plan with identified materials is complete.
Done when: The family has chosen a specific contribution project and identified key materials/steps.
3Discussion 6 min
Encourage the child to reflect on the planning process and the deeper meaning behind their chosen contribution. Let them answer first, only prompting if they seem stuck.
Ask:
- "Why do you think it's important to participate and help out at family gatherings?"
- "How does preparing something ourselves change how we feel about the holiday?"
- "What do you hope others will feel when they see or experience your contribution?"
- "What was challenging about deciding on your project?"
Done: The child can explain the value of their contribution and how it connects to gratitude in their own words.
Done when: Student can articulate the value of contributing and the feeling of gratitude in their own words.
4Activity 9 min
Facilitate the hands-on creation of their chosen Thanksgiving contribution. Begin by gathering all the materials identified during the planning stage, including paper, markers, craft glue, and natural items like leaves and twigs. Offer encouragement and practical assistance as needed, but allow the child to lead the building and creative process. Ensure safety with any tools, such as scissors, providing adult supervision. Step back and let them problem-solve and collaborate as they bring their plan to life, working together and sharing tasks.
Done: The chosen Thanksgiving contribution project is completed.
Done when: Student has completed the physical activity of creating their chosen Thanksgiving contribution.
5Summary 2 min
Celebrate the child's completed project and acknowledge their effort. Ask open-ended questions about their experience during the challenge.
Ask:
- "How does it feel to see your finished contribution?"
- "What was the most surprising part of this challenge for you?"
- "What did you enjoy most about working on this project?"
- "How will your creation be used on Thanksgiving?"
Done: The child shares at least one key takeaway or feeling about their project.
Done when: Student shares one key takeaway or feeling about their project.
Beyond The Spark
Fuel their curiosity beyond the Spark with bonus extras.
Table Talk
Learning to plan and contribute to family events helps build valuable organizational and teamwork skills used in careers and community leadership.
Challenge
Create a 'Gratitude Chain' where each link is something you're thankful for, or design a menu card featuring your homemade dish or decoration.
Quick Recap Quiz 4 min
Customize this quiz, add questions, or follow your child's lead! Each question has a 'Parent Tip' to help them find the answer without giving it away.
1. What is the main goal of our Thanksgiving challenge today?
- To watch a Thanksgiving movie
- To create a special Thanksgiving contribution
Remind them of the challenge title and what they just made.
2. Why is planning important before starting a project?
- It helps us know what to do and what materials we need.
- It makes the project take longer.
Ask: 'What would happen if we just started without thinking?'
3. What is a good way to show gratitude on Thanksgiving?
- Only focusing on eating all the food
- Contributing something special and thanking others
Discuss what gratitude means and how we show it to people.
4. How does working together (collaborating) help a project?
- It helps us share ideas and finish faster.
- It makes the project more confusing.
Ask: 'What did you like about working with others today?'
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