The cornucopia is an ancient symbol for abundance, and has become a symbol for Thanksgiving— a day set aside for gratitude and giving thanks. In this activity, children will use fine-motor skills and express creativity by creating their own versions of the cornucopia. Don't forget that this is also a great opportunity to express your thankfulness for each child in your classroom, and to ask the children who and what they are thankful for as well. Find an abundance of fun seasonal activities like this one in The GIANT Encyclopedia of Monthly Activities for Children 3 to 6!
Materials:
- pictures of cornucopias
- cone-shaped paper cups and brown crayons or brown construction paper
- scissors
- stapler
- craft glue
- 9" x 6" blue or green construction paper
- cotton balls
- seed catalogs or magazines with food pictures
What to do:
- Show pictures of cornucopias. If possible, bring a real one to class and let the children guess what they are used for.
- Explain to the children that a cornucopia is an ancient symbol for abundance. It has become a symbol for Thanksgiving, a day set aside for giving thanks for abundance.
- Give each child a cone-shaped drinking cup. Ask them to color their cups brown. If you do not have cone-shaped cups, cut out 8" circles from brown paper and give one to each child. Help the children fold their circles into a cone shape and staple.
- Ask the children to glue or staple their cones onto the blue or green paper.
- Have them glue cotton balls inside their cones.
- Encourage them to cover the cotton balls with pictures of food cut from catalogs and magazines. Let some of the pictures spill out onto the base paper.
- More to do—Games: Take some fruits and vegetables out of a cornucopia or basket and play a take-away memory game with the children.
