To celebrate and enjoy Thanksgiving festivities, our first grade team decided to get creative with our afternoon classes. I decided to read the book The Lilttlest Pilgrim to the class, talk about what they are too little for, what makes a good friend, and make a pilgrim craft. It seemed simple enough in my head, and was excited to see it in action.
Last weekend, in preparation, I had my kindergartner and 2nd grader do the craft for me. I wanted to see how long it took them to assemble the craft and decorate to their liking. 5 minutes.
For my youngest son, newly 6 years old, I had all the pieces cut out. All he had to do was listen to my step-by-step instruction oh how to glue the pieces together. He had complete freedom to make his pilgrim face however he desired. He is very talented, if I do say so myself.
My 2nd grade son, 7 years old, I challenged him a bit more. I gave him whole pieces of construction paper and had him cut out all the pieces on his own. He also decorated his pilgrim face the way he desired. This took him maybe 5 minutes total.
I made a girl and boy pilgrim head because at first, I was going to have each child do a pilgrim of their choice. Then I got to thinking about it… and simple is best! I had each student make a pilgrim wearing a tall black hat (if they wanted to make it a girl, smurf, zombie, etc, they could).
I have some happy little first graders who were excited to show off their pilgrims. They might be too small to do certain things… but they are not too small to be a good friend.
The very first thing we did as a class was I had them sit at the rug and I read the book “My Little Pilgrim”. After reading the book we discussed what they are too little to do, what they can do, touched on what pilgrims are and their way of life… and how to be a good friend.
If you would like to do this craft with your Littlest Pilgrim, here is what you need.
Supplies needed:
Small white paper plate
Construction paper (precut for easy assembly for young crafters)
Glue stick
Markers or Crayons
The pilgrim face craft took maybe 5 minutes total to complete. You could add to this lesson by adding a writing component that was inspired by the book. There is a free writing template I found at Teachers Pay Teachers HERE.
My class (and children) enjoyed this craft and activity. I hope you enjoyed it too!
Have a great day! Remember… you are never too little to be a good friend! 
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