Reception Celebrations
Saying Thank You

Start with the importance of saying thank you for all we are lucky to have, and for the people around us. Learn about festivals that say thank you: Thanksgiving in USA; Harvest Festival in UK and around the world; the Jewish festival Sukkot. Thanking family members (could include Mothering Sunday/Mothers' Day + Fathers’ Day). Choose something or somebody to be grateful for and express your thanks in art - make labels and a gallery; invite an audience in to view the work.

Session 1 Thank you!

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.
  • Know that other children do not always do the same things, and are sensitive to this.
  • Know about similarities and differences between others, and among families, communities and traditions.
  • Show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings; form positive relationships with adults and other children.

Lesson Planning

Children share with class teacher the experience of being thanked; they practice saying thank you during the normal school day and begin to think about what and who they are thankful for.

Children will:

  • Have opportunity to talk about how being thanked makes them feel.
  • Realise the importance of the phrase ‘thank you’; that it is both being polite (good manners) and a feeling of thankfulness or gratitude.
  • Have opportunities to say thank you to peers and family members.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Real thank you card or letter from grateful participant in previous blocks
  • Head teacher primed to enter room to share it with children
  • Stickers
  • Class list for easier note taking during plenary
  • A1 sheet of stiff paper

Session 2 Thanksgiving in the USA

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Know about similarities and differences between others, and among families, communities and traditions.
  • Sing songs and experiment with ways of changing them.
  • Represent ideas, thoughts and feelings through art, role play and stories.

Lesson Planning

Learn about the first Pilgrims in North America and the difficulties they faced until helped by indigenous population. Different ways to say Thank You, including British sign language. Turkey craft activities!

Children will:

  • Learn British sign language for ‘Thank You’ and to say ‘Thank You’ in other languages.
  • Engage in activities representing a traditional Thanksgiving Celebration as celebrated in USA; learn something of the significance of this traditional celebration and have opportunities to respond creatively, imaginatively and meaningfully.
  • Adapt songs about saying ‘Thank You’.
  • Use 'Pobble' website

You Will Need

  • Thank you’ poster started in session 1
  • Free standing globe
  • Map of the world
  • Thanksgiving Day! Discover Thanksgiving History and Fun Holiday Traditions 2013 by Leanne Annett
  • Thanksgiving A Special Celebration 2014 by Gary Dickinson
  • Resources for crafts
  • Role play items
  • Large cardboard box, long pinafores, pilgrim hats, trunk containing household items such as plates, cups, saucepan

Session 3 Harvest festival

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Know about similarities and differences between others, and among families, communities and traditions.
  • Sing songs and experiment with ways of changing them.
  • Represent ideas, thoughts and feelings through art, music, role play and stories.

Lesson Planning

Puddles the cat is back to share her experience of Harvest. Children harvest common vegetables & experiment with potato and leaf printing.

Children will:

  • Engage in activities representing a traditional Harvest Festival Celebration as celebrated in UK and learn something of the significance of this traditional celebration and have opportunities to respond creatively, imaginatively and meaningfully.
  • Ask and answer questions about religion and culture as they occur within these experiences.
  • Adapt ‘Thank You Lord for this New Day’ to include the vegetables they are grateful for.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Thank You poster started in session 1
  • A Wet and Windy Harvest for Puddles by Gill Vaisey
  • Toy puddles the cat
  • Christian artefacts and vestments
  • Small world farm
  • Information books about farms and farmers
  • Driving My Tractor by Jan Dobbins
  • Why is this day special? Harvest Festival by Jillian Powell

Session 4 Harvest Festival Celebration

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Try new activities confidently, and to say why some activities are liked more than others.
  • Speak confidently in a familiar group, and talk about ideas,
  • Choose the resources needed for the chosen activities.
  • Say if and when help is needed.

Lesson Planning

Bake bread and cut up vegetables to make soup. ‘Little Red Hen’ as told by Pie Corbett.

Children will:

  • Make vegetable soup and bread.
  • Adapt ‘Thank you lord for this new day’ to include the vegetables they are grateful for.

Provided Resources

  • Prayers and blessings from different religions and cultures

You Will Need

  • ‘Thank you’ poster started in session 1
  • A Wet and Windy Harvest for Puddles by Gill Vaisey
  • Toy puddles the cat
  • Christian artefacts and vestments
  • Knives, chopping boards, vegetables, peeler
  • A large saucepan to make vegetable soup
  • Ingredients for making bread

Session 5 Sukkot

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Know about similarities and differences between others, and among families, communities and traditions.
  • Sing songs, make music and dance.
  • Represent ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role play and stories.

Lesson Planning

Sammy Spider shares his experience of the Festival of Sukkot. Children help to build a sukkah; make representative Lulav and Etrog to use with poem ‘Sukkot’ by Judith Nicholls.

Children will:

  • Engage in activities representing a traditional Jewish Sukkot Festival and learn something of the significance of this traditional celebration and have opportunities to respond creatively, imaginatively and meaningfully.
  • Ask and answer questions about religion and culture as they occur within these experiences.

You Will Need

  • Sammy Spider's First Sukkot by Sylvia A Rouss
  • Spider hand puppet
  • Materials to construct a sukkah
  • Fruit and vegetables
  • Green crepe paper, long garden canes
  • 3 different types of twigs – date palm branch, myrtle, willow
  • Yellow playdough
  • Healthy snacks and water

Session 6 Celebrating family!

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.
  • Know that other children do not always do the same things, and are sensitive to this.
  • Know about similarities and differences between others, and among families, communities and traditions.

Lesson Planning

Incorporate experiences of children’s families and all who we can be grateful for.

Children will:

  • Grow in awareness that other chn do not always do the same things as their families do and develop in understanding that there are similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.
  • Recognize opportunities to thank family members for all they do.

You Will Need

  • My Dad Is Brilliant, My Mum Is Fantastic, My Grandma Is Wonderful , My Grandpa is Amazing all by Nick Butterworth
  • My Mum, My dad, My Brother all by Antony Browne
  • So Much, Full, full, full of love by Trish Cooke

Session 7 Thank You Gallery!

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.
  • Use what has been learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes.
  • Represent ideas, thoughts and feelings through art.

Lesson Planning

Make 2D representation of favourite person or thing to say ‘thank you’ for. Arrange as an Art Gallery and invite an audience to view the work.

Children will:

  • Create pictures inspired by the work of artist Henri Matisse.
  • Invite visitors to view and comment on their work.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Examples of work by artist Henri Matisse
  • Coloured paper to cut and tear
  • Battery operated candle.