Giving Thanks
Group Activities

Sermon Title: "Giving Thanks"

Scripture Reading:class="uk-h5"> Psalms 100

CANDY CORN RUN:

Divide the children into teams. Each child will take a turn of holding a spoon in their mouth while carrying a single candy corn to the bowl at the other side of the room that is on a table. After dropping the candy corn into a bowl for that team, the child will run back to the team and then the next child will take their own plastic spoon and a single candy corn and run carefully to drop their candy corn in the bowl. If the candy corn drops on the floor or the ground, they must stop at that spot and put the candy corn back on their spoon and continue the race.

CORN KERNEL RELAY:

Children can be divided into teams and take turns running to a bowl full of dried up corn kernels. Each child will quickly grab 5 (five) kernels and run back to their line, until all the children have played the relay game and each child will have 5 kernels of corn. Children will save these kernels for the 5 kernels activity later, or right after this relay.

JUMP ROPING:

Children can take turns jumping rope. Tell children that as they jump each time, they are to shout out things they are thankful for or SHOULD be thankful for. If they jump without giving thanks, then the rope will be given to the next child to continue the thanks jumping!

TURKEY HANDS:

Give children construction paper and markers and colors to trace their hand, add legs to the bottom of the hand print. Color each finger a bright color to symbolize the turkey's feathers. Children can add the eyes and a beak to the thumb finger. Let children write one thing that they are thankful for on each one of the fingers!

FIVE KERNEL THANKSGIVING:

Let children sit in a circle with their 5 kernels of corn. Take turns going around the circle and sharing give things each child is thankful for - either people's names or things such as home, church, school, etc. Children can place their kernels in a bowl or basket as they share their thanks and then pass the bowl/basket to the next person.

THANKS BOOKLET:

Provide children with at least 5 pieces of construction paper. The front title page can be decorated as child would like, with words of Thanks on the front. For one page, the teacher can give the children some toothpicks and tape or glue to form a house (to be thankful for); another page could let children use lip gloss or lipstick to place on their lips and then kiss the page and draw a happy face around their lip mark; another page could be a rainbow that the teacher gives the children paint to form the rainbow; and another page could be thanks for food and the teacher could supply magazine pictures of food for the children to glue or tape on that food page. One page could be thanks for their own Church, as the teacher gives them cut out colored paper shapes that the children would form into the shape of a church, or one page for red strips of paper to form the cross, etc.

CANDY CORN ART:

The teacher can give each child a large orange cut out shape of a candy corn. Children can write today's Bible verse on that shape of a candy corn and tape or glue a real piece of candy corn to the middle of the artwork.

THANKS PLACE MAT:

Children can be given a tracing of a cornucopia or a basket that the children can cut out and glue onto a large piece of construction paper. Let children choose pics from a magazine of fruit and vegetables to glue or tape into the cornucopia or basket. Give children a typed out piece of paper with today's Bible verse, or children can write words of thanksgiving from today's lesson.

SING A SONG:

To God Be the Glory

SHARE A SNACK:

Let children enjoy candy corn cupcakes. Just have cupcakes, frosting and some candy corns available for children to frost the cupcakes and stick several candy corns in the frosting to enjoy! GIVE THANKS before eating today's snack together!

Song: "To God Be the Glory" - By Fanny Crosby & William H. Doane

Words and Music (PDF)

Piano Accompaniment (MP3)

This song is in the public domain and may be downloaded and reproduced for religious or educational use by churches, schools, home schoolers, and other non-profit organizations.