This Little Project: Thanksgiving in the Village

Do you remember our village" project from awhile back?

It's still one of our favorite {little projects}.

Well, we took our pilgrim peg doll family and put them in their "village" this week.

{This Little Project} has brought Thanksgiving to life.
It's been serious fun!

I love watching {little} hands learn through play.

Initially, I wasn't sure how much Ellie would use {this little project} because of how young she is.But she loved it!

We used some wood log blocks to make a {little} house for our pilgrim family.
Then Jay and Kay got out our animals and other friends from "the village."
The two older kids have really had fun sailing our family on the "Mayflower" boat and pretending to hunt for food and make friends with the natives.

We got out the village park for some green space to play and "plant seeds" on.
And you know I have to sneak some spelling fun in. Our village tradition has been to use scrabble tiles to name things in the village.

The village isn't all historically accurate (or to scale--check out our chicken above--and our toy turkey is as tall as the pilgrims!) And all kinds of friends come to visit!

Jay found some twigs outside and we "lashed" some together with yarn for 2 teepees and then used the extras for a little camp fire.

I think next year we'll make our family into indian peg dolls and live in the village from that perspective.
One of the things I love about the story of Thanksgiving is that it transcends time. I think of it any time our family moves to a new place or when I meet new people. You're either the newbie (pilgrim) trying to get to know the natives and find your place in a new land. Or you're the native trying to understand and welcome the new person to your neighborhood.It's a story that never gets old. History is always more about the now than we realize.