As you teach all things Thanksgiving, take the opportunity to build students’ vocabulary with this list of Thanksgiving words. Kids build word knowledge by using words in context, so as students are discussing what they are thankful for, making apple and marshmallow turkeys, and learning about Thanksgiving traditions, teach and reinforce words for Thanksgiving foods, traditions, and celebrations. Grab the free printable Thanksgiving word list and then try some of the activities below.
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Activities for Teaching Thanksgiving Words
Need ideas for using these creative words with your students? Here are some options:
Write a Thanksgiving Menu
Give students a list of food words and have them create a Thanksgiving menu. What did they include? What did they leave off? Why?
Make a Thanksgiving Word Web
Help students see the connections between words by creating word webs. You can do this as a whole group activity, or post a web topic for students to add to throughout a lesson or week.
Read Thanksgiving Books
As you read books like Thanksgiving in the Woods by Phyllis Alsdurf and Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet, see how many of these Thanksgiving words you can find. For more ideas, check out these Diverse and Thoughtful Thanksgiving Books for the Classroom
Play Thanksgiving Word Bingo
Put the words or pictures that represent a selection of Thanksgiving words on bingo cards and play word bingo. To get creative, give students sentences about the words, or sentences with fill-in-the-blanks, rather than the words themselves. Here’s a free Bingo card generator you can use.
Do a Thanksgiving Word Search
Word searches are great to reinforce spelling, attention and focus, and persistence. Use the words on this list and a word search generator to make your own.
Thanksgiving Word List from A-Z
Here are all the words you need for your Thanksgiving word walls or word banks and to teach Thanksgiving vocabulary.
Thanksgiving Words That Start With A
- Abundance
- Acorn squash
- Acorns
- Allspice
- Appetite
- Apple
- Aroma
- Arrange
- Arrangement
- Assemble
- Autumn
Thanksgiving Words That Start With B
- Bake
- Baking
- Balloon
- Band
- Banquet
- Belonging
- Biscuits
- Blessing
- Bounty
- Bowl
- Bread
- Brown
- Butternut squash
Thanksgiving Words That Start With C
- Calendar
- Candles
- Candy
- Carrots
- Carve
- Casserole
- Celebration
- Centerpiece
- Cider
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Colonists
- Colony
- Commemorate
- Community
- Companion
- Companionship
- Cook
- Corn
- Cornbread
- Cornucopia
- Costume
- Cranberry
- Crisp
- Crowds
Thanksgiving Words That Start With D
- Dance
- Decorations
- Delicacy
- Delicious
- Dessert
- Dinner
- Dressing
- Drumstick
- Duck
Thanksgiving Words That Start With E
- Eat
- Embrace
- Ensemble
- Exciting
Thanksgiving Words That Start With F
- Fall
- Family
- Famished
- Feast
- Festival
- Fireplace
- Fireside
- Fish
- Float
- Football
- Fried turkey
- Friends
- Fry bread
- Fun
Thanksgiving Words That Start With G
- Gather
- Give
- Gizzard
- Gobble
- Goose
- Gourd
- Grand marshal
- Grateful
- Gratitude
- Green beans
- Greeting
- Guests
Thanksgiving Words That Start With H
- Ham
- Harvest
- Hayride
- Hearth
- Heritage
- Holiday
- Hoodie
- Host
- Hostess
- Hugs
- Hungry
Thanksgiving Words That Start With I
- Indigenous
- Inspire
- Invite
Thanksgiving Words That Start With J
- Jellied cranberry sauce
- Journey
- Joy
Thanksgiving Words That Start With K
- Kernel
- Kindness
- Kitchen
Thanksgiving Words That Start With L
- Laughter
- Leaves
- Leftovers
- Love
Thanksgiving Words That Start With M
- Maize
- Maple syrup
- March
- Marshmallows
- Mashed potatoes
- Mayflower
- Meal
- Memories
- Merriment
- Migration
- Mulled cider
Thanksgiving Words That Start With N
- Nap
- Native American
- November
- Nuts
Thanksgiving Words That Start With O
- Occasion
- Onions
- Orange
Thanksgiving Words That Start With P
- Parade
- Pardon
- Party
- Peace
- Pecans
- Performance
- Pilgrim
- Pine cone
- Pots
- President
- Prosperous
- Pumpkin
Thanksgiving Words That Start With Q
- Quail
- Quaint
- Quinoa
Thanksgiving Words That Start With R
- Recipe
- Relatives
- Relax
- Reunion
- Roast
- Rosemary
- Route
Thanksgiving Words That Start With S
- Salad
- Satiated
- Sauce
- Savory
- Scarecrow
- Seasoning
- Serve
- Sharing
- Snow
- Spinach
- Stuffed
- Stuffing
- Sweet
Thanksgiving Words That Start With T
- Tasty
- Thanksgiving
- Thursday
- Thyme
- Tofurky
- Travel
- Trim
- Trimmings
- Turkey
Thanksgiving Words That Start With U
- Unite
- Unity
- Utensils
Thanksgiving Words That Start With V
- Vacation
- Vanilla
- Volunteer
- Voyage
Thanksgiving Words That Start With W, X, Y, and Z
- Waddle
- Warm
- Welcome
- Wishbone
- Wreath
- Xenial
- Yams
- Yummy
- Zeal
Get Your Free Thanksgiving Words Printable
Print copies and hand them out to students to use for writing assignments, vocabulary practice, and more! Click the button below to share your email address and get instant access to the list.
