The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted three days.
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends. It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed.
So the way I see it you are supposed to get lobster, clams, venison and fish, berries, watercress and dried fruit. Yum.
I do believe that children would be happier with -
Pizza and brownies
Making Hand TURKEYS for their parents (I still treasure mine)
or have them make plaster of paris hand molds for a gift for christmas - do it now for then.
Or get a couple of bags of feathers from the craft store, have the kids trace their hands on construction paper and GLUE those feathers on their creations. Kids LOVE feathers.
If there are any costumes available for pilgrim get someone to dress up and serve the food dressed like pilgrims or indians - be prepared most little boys want to be indians (its the feather thing I'm sure)
You can also make pilgrim hats out of newspaper
You can make indian head bands out of material and (again a feather) or construction paper and a feather - they do the design on the headband.
